Mikel Arteta and Arsenal’s players react after losing to Bournemouth at the Emirates Stadium (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Arsenal are not making a right winger a priority this summer, but seem open to snapping up free agent Leroy Sane, according to Charles Watts.
Writing in his latest exclusive CaughtOffside column, Watts explained that the Gunners were never likely to spend as much as £60m on someone like Bryan Mbeumo this summer.
Arsenal have too many other signings they need to get done in this transfer window, so Mbeumo probably wouldn’t have been a good use of funds.
Sane on a free, however, could make more sense as the Germany international can add depth without eating too much into the transfer budget.
Leroy Sane transfer talks confirmed by Arsenal expert Charles Watts
Sane has been linked with Arsenal by Christian Falk in a recent report for CaughtOffside, and Watts has confirmed the story.
Discussing Arsenal missing out on Mbeumo as he instead heads to Manchester United, Watts explained the north London giants’ thinking.
“There’s been lots of reaction from Arsenal fans to the news that Bryan Mbeumo looks set to join Manchester United at some point this summer, with many believing their club should have been pushing for the Brentford winger,” Watts said.
“There was reported interest in Mbeumo from Arsenal, but things never went further than that and I’m not really surprised to be honest.
“Don’t get me wrong, I would have loved to have seen Mbeumo at Arsenal, there is no doubt he would have improved Mikel Arteta’s attacking options.
“But let’s face it, he’s predominantly a right winger and strengthening in that position isn’t really the priority for Arsenal this window.
Arsenal already have Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri
“They already have Bukayo Saka, who is going to play more often than not and then they have Ethan Nwaneri, who they have to continue to find meaningful minutes for following his breakthrough campaign in 2024/25.
“So as nice as it would have been to see someone like Mbeumo come in, it just wasn’t really realistic in a window when Arsenal are going to have to invest heavily in other areas of the attack.
“I do think there is an argument for bringing in another right sided option, but the priority has to be freshening things up on the opposite flank as well as adding that long-awaited new striker.
“Those two additions are going to cost big money and when you add in the £51 million fee that has been put aside for Martin Zubimendi that already adds up to significant outlay from Arsenal in the transfer window.
“So spending £60m plus on a right winger on top of all that just doesn’t seem realistic, as nice as it would be.
“Perhaps that is why exploratory talks have been held with Leroy Sane’s agent, with the German winger set to be available on a free transfer should he fail to agree to an extension with Bayern Munich.”
