David Ornstein believes Arsenal may still try to sign a forward later in the transfer window, depending on a couple of factors.
Arsenal have seemingly already completed the majority of their incoming transfer business for the summer, with new signings Jurrien Timber, Declan Rice, and Kai Havertz all starting in the Community Shield on Sunday.
The Gunners have also made a few sales, with Granit Xhaka joining Bayer Leverkusen, Auston Trusty moving to Sheffield United, and Pablo Mari completing a permanent transfer to loan club AC Monza.
Yet there’s still more to come on both fronts. Arsenal are strongly pursuing a move for David Raya, and Matt Turner looks set to complete an exit to Nottingham Forest.
After that, David Ornstein confirms the priority will be further sales, but the Gunners could still add a fifth signing too.
“The focus is departures,” Ornstein said. “After that, I don’t know, maybe one more attacker if Gabriel Jesus is out for longer.
“If they’re struggling at the start of the Premier League season, maybe the owners do back them to bring in an attacker on loan or permanently.
“But I don’t think that’s in the forefront of their mind now. They’ve done most of their transfer business and they’re happy.”
Arsenal certainly have a very large squad at the moment, with a number of players who could realistically still move on if bids come in.
Folarin Balogun has been linked with Inter Milan, Nicolas Pepe with Besiktas, Marquinhos with a loan to Olympiacos or Nantes, and Albert Sambi Lokonga with Burnley, to name but a few.
Then there’s Cedric Soares, Nuno Tavares, Kieran Tierney, Rob Holding, Arthur Okonkwo, Charlie Patino, and Runar Alex Runarsson, any of whom could easily be on the way out for the right offer.
Yet things have been moving relatively slowly so far. Arsenal have had to be patient, and they’ll hope to receive a raft of proposals for their players towards the end of the window.
If and when that happens, perhaps we can all start thinking about a potential fifth incoming. In the meantime, Arsenal still need to get that fourth deal for Raya done.
The good news is that Jesus doesn’t currently look like being out for an extended period, so perhaps Arsenal won’t need to make another addition after all.