It was expected that the club would do little-if-any business when the January transfer window opened, but Danny Welbeck’s injury and Aaron Ramsey’s contract status means we will likely see some action when it all springs to life.

What that means is that speculation is rife and Arsenal, who are said to have a limited transfer budget, will be spending around £17kazillion on all the players.

Let’s take a look at some of the links:

Arsenal ‘thinking of paying’ €40m release clause for Mario Hermoso in January

Arsenal are considering paying the €40m release clause for Espanyol defender Mario Hermoso in January, according to reports in Spain.

Hermoso joined Espanyol from Real Madrid in 2017, having never appeared for Madrid’s first team after coming through their academy. Since then, the 23-year-old has made a name for himself in La Liga, to the point that he’s just received his first call-up and cap for the Spanish national team.

https://twitter.com/SeFutbol/status/1060480390283046913

Suddenly, there are rumours that Real Madrid want to activate their buy-back clause of €7.5m. However, Arsenal are also very interested, according to a report from Marca. They wouldn’t have the same cut-price option as Real, but they could choose to pay Hermoso’s €40m release clause, and they’re considering doing so in January.

If they did, half of that fee would go to Madrid anyway, as per the terms of Hermoso’s original sale.

Hermoso has played every minute of Espanyol’s league campaign so far, scoring a couple of goals and helping them keep five clean sheets in their run-up to fifth in the table (above Real).

It’s no surprise the big clubs are starting to take an interest, and that interest will only increase now that the Spaniard has made his international debut.