David Ornstein drops major Arsenal update, with star tipped to leave as Marseille, Everton circle

Whether Eddie Nketiah will leave Arsenal or not this summer has been a long, drawn out saga, but there could finally be a breakthrough in negotiations for the striker.

Nketiah, 25, has been widely expected to leave Arsenal but nothing has yet materialised with interest in him from the Premier League and abroad.

Marseille have been most heavily linked with Nketiah and TEAMtalk understands he is keen to join the French side having been offered a sizeable contract by them.

Roberto de Zerbi’s side, who also signed Mason Greenwood from Manchester United earlier this summer, had been getting frustrated with negotiations, as TEAMtalk revealed last week.

But Arsenal are now willing to sanction a deal worth €30m as an obligation to buy after a season-long loan, and it us now up to Marseille to decide whether they proceed or not.

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Everton are also huge admirers of Nketiah but would need to sell players before being able to match Arsenal’s demands.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s future at the club is unclear with just a year remaining on his contract. Newcastle were progressing with a deal earlier this summer but it collapsed due toh his wage demands.

Nketiah signed a five-year deal at the Emirates Stadium in 2022 which means the club are in a strong position with regards demanding a fee to sell the player.

If Arsenal are to let go of Nketiah, it will surely ramp up the need to add another striker to their squad. Although Mikel Arteta hasn’t actively moved for more firepower as of yet, there have been plenty of links throughout the summer, including Alexander Isak of Newcastle, Ivan Toney of Brentford, Napoli’s Victor Osimhen and Viktor Gyokeres, formerly of Coventry City and now of Sporting Lisbon.

But Arteta was coy on Nketiah’s future when speaking to the media this week after he was involved in the friendly win over Bayer Leverkusen.

“We cannot talk about things like that,” he said. “He played some minutes; he has given us so much and we really like him. At the moment there is nothing to discuss.”

Arsenal set Marseille, Everton Nketiah price

According to David Ornstein, Arsenal are ready to allow Nketiah to join Marseille. He claims that they are willing to sanction a season-long loan deal for the striker, with an obligation to buy set at €30m (£25.7m).

The French club have already seen two bids rejected for Nketiah could be convinced into matching the Gunners’ new demands.

On Nketiah’s side, sources have revealed to TEAMtalk that he is keen to join Marseille despite being aware of interest from elsewhere.

Arsenal have already significantly strengthened in defence with the signing of Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna and are consistently being linked with a move for Real Sociedad man Mikel Merino.

Last season, Nketiah played 27 Premier League games scoring five goals with two assists as Arsenal were beaten to the Premier League title by Manchester City on the final day of the season.

They are hoping for a third successive title challenge and are tipped by many to deny City a fifth straight Premier League title.

They begin their season at home to Wolves on Saturday August 17.

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