Arsenal
Premier League • England
Arsenal ‘favourite’ made No 1 January target by Inter Milan, as Arteta begrudgingly accepts star may leave
Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu has been made Inter Milan’s No 1 transfer target for January and their price tag has been revealed, while a report claims Mikel Arteta has reluctantly ‘accepted he might lose the player’ mid-season.
Tomiyasu is a useful depth piece in what proved to be the meanest defence in the Premier League last season. However, with Ben White, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes all guaranteed starters across the backline, left-back is Tomiyasu’s best route to regular minutes.
But with Jurrien Timber and new recruit Riccardo Calafiori in situ, Tomiyasu’s outlook is bleak.
According to a fresh update from the Sun, Tomiyasu, 25, has emerged on the radars of Serie A trio Inter Milan, Juventus and Napoli. Of the three, Inter pose the biggest threat to Arsenal, with Simone Inzaghi’s side installing Tomiyasu as their ‘number one target for January.’
Adding further fuel to the fire is the claim Tomiyasu – described as a ‘favourite among supporters at the Emirates’ – is thought to be ‘open-minded to the idea of a move.’
As such, the report then claims Arteta ‘is understood to have accepted he might lose the player in the New Year.’
Regarding cost, the Sun concluded Arsenal will demand ‘at least £25m’ before greenlighting a sale.
Other Arsenal defenders up for grabs
TEAMtalk’s transfer insider, Fraser Gillan, has been told Arsenal are open to offloading Kieran Tierney and Oleksandr Zinchenko – who both play primarily at left-back.
Given both of those players, Tierney especially, are behind Tomiyasu in the pecking order, it stands to reason Arsenal would prioritise selling either of that pair before entertaining offers for Tomiyasu.
Coincidentally, Arsenal have also been linked with making a move for Inter defender Yann Bisseck who could be viewed as an upgrade on Tomiyasu.
But according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal fans should not get their hopes up regarding a Bisseck raid.
Speaking to Caught Offside, Romano reported: “I’m aware there have been some stories linking Arsenal with an interest in Yann Bisseck, but in all honesty there is nothing at the moment.
“No talks, no contacts, zero so far. He’s a key player for Inter and he just joined one year ago so they’re not planning for anything now, Bisseck is doing very well.”
Arsenal scouting mission / Five strikers monitored
In other news, Arsenal reportedly scouted two Girona players during their Champions League debut against PSG on Wednesday night. One was a left-back.
Elsewhere, TEAMtalk has been able to confirm no fewer than five top-class strikers are on Arsenal’s radar.
We can verify Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan), Alexander Isak (Newcastle), Viktor Gyokeres (Sporting CP), Jonathan David (Lille) and Benjamin Sesko (RB Leipzig) are in the Gunners’ sights.
William Saliba is also courting interest from Real Madrid who scouted the Frenchman during Sunday’s north London derby.
Real Madrid hope to sign Trent Alexander-Arnold, Rodri and one of Saliba and Cristian Romero in a blockbuster 2025 summer window.
Edu working wonders with Arsenal exits
Arsenal have spent heavily over the last two summers and broke their transfer record when splashing out £105m to sign Declan Rice.
To aid their cause, sporting director Edu has worked wonders from an exits perspective, recouping sizeable fees for first-team players who were depth pieces at best.
Looking at just the previous two summers, Arsenal have generated £170.3m (add-ons included) from the sales of nine players.
Of those nine, only Granit Xhaka was a regular starter and the Swiss veteran went on to help Bayer Leverkusen win their first ever Bundesliga title last term.
However, the other eight – Aaron Ramsdale, Matt Turner, Rob Holding, Pablo Mari, Auston Trusty, Emile Smith Rowe, Folarin Balogun and Eddie Nketiah – were not starters.
READ MORE: The key contract details of every Arsenal first-team player: Expiry dates, weekly wages, agents…