Mikel Arteta again outlined Arsenal’s transfer ambitions, amid continued talk of a move for Vinicius Jr.
The Brazil superstar remains linked with a switch to the Gunners, with his Real Madrid future yet to be resolved.
Vinicius is out of contract at the Bernabeu next summer, and talkSPORT reported last month that Arsenal were considering a surprise swoop for the 26-year-old forward.
And now comments from Arteta have heightened Gunners fans’ excitement around the possibility of what would be surely the most momentous transfer of the summer.
Arsenal ‘won’t sit still’
Asked ‘when’s Vini joining?’ after Arsenal’s 4-1 pre-season friendly win over Girona, Arteta smiled.
And he went on to tell reporters about the prospect of more signings as the Gunners prepare for their Premier League title defence: “Well, we are already active trying to improve and evolve the team – that’s clear.
“We expect to have movements in the next few weeks, obviously, because we want to get better like anybody else, and you just can see the transfer market and our opponents what we are doing.
“We won’t sit still and we are very ambitious what we want to do.”
Could that ambition extend to bringing Vinicius to the Emirates Stadium?
Gunners fans have been getting carried away with themselves following that interview.
One said: “Remember same reaction from Wenger when Ozil signed.”
Another added: “That smile says it all.”
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Well, Arsenal fans have been warned that the situation might be a misdirection, as Transfer Insiders host Rickie Haywood-Williams suggested.
“I think this is the biggest red herring in history in terms of live transfers,” he said on talkSPORT.
“Because I feel like Vinicius Jr has been trying to get a new contract at Real Madrid for the last couple of years.
“In that time, they’ve signed [Kylian] Mbappe – Mbappe is on incredible money and he [Vinicius] obviously is going to want parity with that or somewhere close, and I think he’s using the Premier League as a bit of a bargaining chip to try and up the ante on his money, to try and get a bigger contract.”
Gunners’ squad takes shape
Arsenal have made two new additions to their squad during the current transfer window.
Goalkeeper Illan Meslier has come in on a free transfer after leaving Leeds, while winger Christos Tzolis has arrived from Club Brugge in a deal worth £34m.
Title-winning full-back Piero Hincapie has also made his loan move from Bayer Leverkusen permanent.
And the Gunners are closing in on Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes.
Arsenal are back in pre-season action against Real Betis in Dublin on Wednesday.
Their first competitive game of the new campaign sees them face FA Cup winners Manchester City in the Community Shield at Wembley on August 16 – before the Premier League curtain-raiser at home to newly promoted Coventry five days later.
