AUDIO: BBC Sport’s David Ornstein – ‘No Signings Imminent At Arsenal’

By The Editor
on 12th July 2019

David Ornstein warns us not to expect any imminent movements in the market…

BBC’s David Ornstein has revealed that Arsenal are no closer to securing their first genuine signing of the summer after the squad jetted off to America for their pre-season tour, he told the Arsecast podcast.

The club have brought in Brazilian 18-year-old Gabriel Martinelli from Ituano, but it remains to be seen if the winger is viewed as a serious option this season.

We’ve extensively linked with the likes of Kieran Tierney, Wilfried Zaha and Wiliam Saliba and while the latter is further down the line, his signature will be followed by a loan spell at his current club for another 12 months.

We haven’t followed up on our rejected bids for Tierney and Zaha which seriously questions our intentions of landing the duo in the first place.

While the Zaha deal seems out of our price range, there is no excuse as to why we can’t match Celtic’s £25million valuation and bring Tierney to the club.

“Saliba, they need to get that over the line,” Ornstein said when asked if anything was imminent.

“There are some small details that need to be finalised. It’s more the wording of parts of the contract and these as usually things that don’t bring a deal down.

“Aside from that, nothing is imminent,” he added.

“I’d be staggered if the Zaha transfer comes to fruition so in that position they’ll be having to look for an alternative option.”

As for Tierney, the update was rather dim: “It’s a deal that’s there to be done but Arsenal have to get to the asking price.”

Since then, Ornstein has revealed that Spurs are attempting to hijack our deal for Saliba and have also agreed a fee with Saint Etienne for the defender, a chain of events that may well tip fans over the edge.

Negotiations between Arsenal, Saint Etienne and Saliba were in their very final stages – much of it already in the hands of lawyers to agree wording of contracts etc – but Tottenham have reignited their interest and are now pushing hard to get the deal completed #AFC #THFC #ASSE https://t.co/8uihItY3eS

— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) July 12, 2019

This summer is been nothing short of a comedy show throughout its duration and given that it’s the first one under the ‘new regime’, it doesn’t fill us with confidence about the future.

The mood at the Emirates Stadium for the Emirates Cup could be interesting if this drastic situation isn’t rectified.