Arsenal Needs to Boost Lineup – Arsenal need to acquire quality players in the transfer market to stand a chance of unseating defending champions Manchester City in the 2023-24 season of the English Premier League. These were the words of Gunners manager Mikel Arteta almost a month after helping the Islington-based squad place second place behind Manchester City, who also went on to complete the treble by winning the English FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. Arsenal are expected to be in the title picture again in the coming season and this early, they are in the hunt to get the best players in the transfer market to fulfill their goal.
Arsenal Needs to Boost Lineup: Gunners Get Havertz, in the Hunt for Rice
Experts betting on soccer are expecting Arsenal to figure in the hunt for the 2023-24 English Premier League title, along with favorites Manchester City and Manchester United. The Gunners had the lead for most part of last season only to surrender it down the stretch as the injury bug affected their players. The unfortunate situation cost them some important matches in the last few weeks of the tournament, allowing Manchester City to sneak through and slither their way to their fourth Premier League crown in five years. In an interview, Arteta made his intentions for the upcoming season known, as he wants Arsenal to splash into the transfer market to acquire some sought-after players. One of their target prospects, Kai Havertz, will take his talents to Islington after Arsenal and Chelsea agreed to an USD82-million transfer fee to secure the services of the 24-year-old attacking midfielder. Havertz was the Gunners’ first acquisition in the offseason as he seeks to turn a new leaf in his football career after three inconsistent seasons with the Blues. Arteta believes that the player will be vital to the team’s offense on a weekly basis.
Another player they are looking to acquire is West Ham captain Declan Rice. The midfielder was given a club record offer of GBP90 million (USD114.43 million). The 24-year-old player, who helped the Hammers win the Europa Conference League, is also being targeted by Manchester City to beef up their campaign in the 2023-24 season. The new offer was the second attempt by the Gunners to acquire Rice and this time around, it breaks the GBP72 million (USD91.544 million) the team paid to acquire Nicolas Pepe’s services in 2019. In 204 games with West Ham, he netted 10 goals and Arsenal would need his leadership to contend in the upcoming season. Aside from Rice, Arsenal have launched bids to acquire Romeo Lavia of Southampton and Jurrien Timber of Ajax.
Saudi Giants Al-Hilal Secure Services of Wolves Captain Neves
Arsenal Needs to Boost Lineup – Portuguese international Ruben Neves will take his talents to Saudi Arabia after Al-Hilal acquired the midfielder for EUR55 million (USD69.930 million). The three-year deal ends the six seasons Neves had with Wolverhampton Wanderers. He now joins Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Pro League in what is anticipated as be the start of transfers of European soccer stars to the oil-rich nation. Before Neves, French midfielder N’Golo Kante signed deal with Al-Ittihad. Kante forms a partnership with Benzema that could bring the team to the top spot of the Saudi Pro League. In January, the 38-year-old Ronaldo signed up with Al-Nassr after two decades of playing soccer in Europe. Neves, who arrived in Wolverhampton in 2017, had 30 goals in 253 appearances with the Wolves. Before Al-Hilal took Neves, Spanish La Liga giants FC Barcelona expressed interest to acquire the Portuguese star. Neves helped the Wolves return to the English Premier League in 2018 and reached the Europa League quarter-finals in 2020. Last season, the Wolves finished 13th.
Al-Hilal also acquired Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly from Chelsea. The Premier League club confirmed the development on Sunday, saying that Koulibaly completed a permanent transfer to the Saudi Pro League side. Koulibaly was the latest Chelsea player who transferred to other teams after the 2022-23 season where they only placed 12th – their lowest finish since 1994. The former Napoli player netted two goals in 23 appearances for the Blues last season. Al-Hilal seeks to improve on their third-place finish last year. They were behind Al Nassr and eventual champions Al Ittihad and the upcoming season, they aim to win their 19th Pro League championship. The six-time league champions are expected to have more transfers in the coming days as goalkeeper Edouard Mendy is set to sign with Al Ahli and Al Nassr is on the verge of acquiring Moroccan winger Hakim Ziyech. The firesale of players is expected to help Chelsea acquire financial assets where they can acquire top players in transfers and help the squad become one of the top English Premier League picks next season.
