Football is currently suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but that doesn’t stop the business side of things and this summer’s transfer window should see many ins and out.

French TV reporter Romain Balland has hinted at a new signing coming from Switzerland and it could be the West Ham forward Alisha Lehmann who has been a great success since signing for the Hammers two season ago.

https://twitter.com/RomBalland/status/1257391177038430208

There would be a transfer fee involved as the striker recently signed a new contract with the East London outfit. Alternatively, another Swiss forward is available on a free as Ramona Bachmann is out of contract at the end of the season, which is more or less right now.

Both players are, of course, international team-mates with our defensive midfielder Lia Walti and would be good additions to the team.

Bachmann is well known to Arsenal fans as she was part of the Umea IK side that were defeated in the 2006/07 UEFA Women’s cup final. She also scored a brace against us the FA Women’s Cup final two season ago.

The Steph Catley rumour seems to be well established and it makes sense to recruit a quality left-back who has already worked with Joe Montemurro in Australia with excellent results as well.

There has also been rumours that a couple of US WNT players’ arrivals was being negotiated for a while now, but who knows what will happen with the Covid-19 pandemic as transatlantic transfers seem to be hitting snags at the moment as seen with Diani to Portland or the current agreed move for Bouhaddi and Maroszan to the Utah Royals.

There are a few Arsenal players that are out of contract like Danielle Carter, Viktoria Schnaderbeck or Pauline Peyraud-Magnin. The French goalie could be on her way out as she has received significant offers from three different clubs and has been able to negotiate and sign a pre-agreement since January with foreign clubs.

It is quite interesting to note that Joe Montemurro has changed his goalkeeper every summer since his arrival at the club. In his first window, he signed Peyraud-Magnin to replace Anna Moorhouse to give Sari Van Veenendaal more competition.

Last summer the Dutch goalie left to play for Atletico Madrid with Manuela Zinsberger coming in along with youngster Fran Stenson. This points to a possible departure for the Frenchwoman, unless an agreement can be found. Obviously, some clarity will be needed in terms of the number one choice in goal next season.

Danielle Carter has been really unlucky with injuries and two consecutive ACLs, so you do wonder if the club will want to renew her deal. As one of the longest serving players, alongside Jordan Nobbs, it would be nice to see her contract extended.

Viktoria Schnaderbeck had a complicated first season with numerous injuries and a very successful second one with a lot of playing time. The defender/midfielder, who is currently spending her lockdown time with her partner in Norway, will hopefully put pen to paper on a contract extension.

Emma Mitchell is another long-serving player who was signed by Shelley Kerr and had to go on loan to Spurs to get playing time. With Catley’s arrival, plus potentially Veje when back to full fitness and McCabe who can deputise at left-back, it would not make sense to keep her in the squad.

You don’t really want to have many players who train the whole week then not even make the bench on match days. This is one of the reasons why Joe Montemurro prefers to have a smaller squad than other teams.

Many managers have stated in the past that the most difficult conversation they have with players is the one when they have to tell them on a Friday that they are staying at home at the weekend.

A player who is definitely leaving the club is England u19 midfielder Ruby Grant who will be on her way to the USA to play for the University of North Carolina alongside Lotte Wubben-Moy, Alessia Russo and Lois Joel.

So, it should be a busy summer transfer window although it will obviously depend on the health situation in the UK and Arsenal’s qualification for the Champions League tournament that will help dictate the squad size needed as more games means more players required to cope with four competitions.