David Raya no.1, Benjamin Sesko, and more

Joan Garcia is a target for Arsenal, but he’s not replacing David Raya as No.1

If Joan Garcia does sign for Arsenal this summer it will end a transfer chase that has stretched on now for well over a year.

He is the keeper that Arsenal want to bring in, with goalkeeper coach Inaki Cana a big fan of the Espanyol stopper, who has had a very impressive season in Spain.

Should the deal happen then Garcia would be coming in as No.2. He wouldn’t be coming in to replace David Raya.

Despite a couple of sloppy moments in recent weeks, Raya has had another exceptional season for Arsenal and should be high up in the running for the club’s player of the season award.

In fact, I’ve been told Raya will officially be taking the Arsenal No.1 shirt this summer, changing from the No.22 that he has been wearing this season.

So as much as Arsenal rate Garcia, should he arrive then he will be coming in as his fellow countryman’s understudy.

That’s not to say that he will not eventually go on to become Arsenal’s No.1, but that’s something he would very much have to work for.

Rodrygo would be an exciting signing, but can Arsenal really afford him?

If Rodrygo really does become available this summer then it would be mad for Arsenal not to at least explore the possibility of signing the Brazilian.

I’ve seen suggestions in Spain that Arsenal are pushing the hardest to land the winger from Real Madrid, but that’s not something I’ve heard myself at this stage.

But you would think the club would have to consider the opportunity, should Real Madrid make it known that they would be open to selling the 24-year-old.

It would be one of those market opportunities that pops up unexpectedly that you would have to look at, especially if you are already in the market for a new wide attacker.

Rodrygo’s record speaks for itself. He’s an excellent player and doesn’t turn 25 until early next year. He’s the exact sort of profile that Arsenal like to go for.

The issue I see with this potential move, however, is the price tag.

If Madrid do decide to let Rodrygo go, and as far as I’m aware that hasn’t been decided yet, then they would be asking for big money for the winger. You would expect something around the £80 million mark at least.

And in a summer where Arsenal need to do an awful lot of significant business, that sort of outlay just feels a bit unlikely to me.

They are already set to commit a shade over £50m to sign Martin Zubimendi and whoever the new striker is they end of signing will cost a fair bit more than that.

So that’s already well over £100m spent on two players with potentially a new winger, goalkeeper and defender to still be signed.

That just makes me feel that Rodrygo might be a step too far given the fee Madrid would demand.

You could get Nico Williams – a player we know Mikel Arteta would love to bring to Arsenal – for around £30m less. That’s a huge amount and even though Williams would command big wages, the same could be said of Rodrygo.

So we’ll have to wait and see how things progress over the next few weeks.

It would certainly be an exciting signing, but my guess is it would take a high profile summer departure to make it possible.

Mikel Arteta won’t be forced to sign anyone he doesn’t want

I’ve seen the suggestion that Mikel Arteta and sporting director Andrea Berta have different opinions on who Arsenal’s priority target should be this summer when it comes to the new striker.

There’s no doubt that Arteta likes Benjamin Sesko. Arsenal’s long founded interest in the RB Leipzig frontman is evidence of that.

But while we know that Berta likes Viktor Gyokeres from his time at Atletico Madrid, that’s not to say that the pair are having any sort of disagreement over forwards as we head towards the summer window.

Arsenal will not sign a striker that Arteta doesn’t want.

So even if he may prefer one over the other, should the other end up being the striker who eventually signs that will not mean that it has been a decision taken against Arteta’s wishes.

He would have given it the green light.

Berta has been brought in to be a powerful voice at Arsenal. His expertise and his ability to get deals over the line are viewed as being crucial in helping Arsenal to have a bit more edge in the transfer window.

But he is working alongside Arteta, not above him. The decisions that will be made will be collective ones.

Surprising it’s taken this long to see Gabriel Martinelli up front

It was great to see Gabriel Martinelli given some time playing down the middle against Liverpool and it was even better to see him take advantage of that.

I thought he was really good. His pace and movement really gave Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate something to think about. He unsettled them and played a big role in Arsenal’s second half fightback.

When Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz were both sidelined by injuries, there was a real expectation amongst the Arsenal fanbase that Arteta would view Martinelli as an viable option in the central striker role.

Fans haven’t forgotten how electric he was in that position when he first arrived under Unai Emery, even though that was now many years ago.

So it has been a bit of a surprise that Arteta has waited so long to give Martinelli a try in that position, although that is probably down to the impressive form of makeshift No. 9 Mikel Merino.

But Martinelli showed everyone what he could do in that second half against Liverpool.

He ran the channels well, he got himself in between Van Dijk and Konate and he started to stretch the Liverpool defence with his runs in behind.

Martinelli’s switch to the striker role also seemed to bring the best out of Martin Odegaard, which was another really interesting point of that second half at Anfield.

I thought Odegaard was excellent after the interval. He seemed to be energised by having a quick forward ahead of him who was looking to constantly make runs into space behind the Liverpool back four.

So I really hope Martinelli keeps his place up front against Newcastle this weekend with Merino now suspended.

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It looks like both Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice will be fit as they both took a full part in training on Wednesday despite struggling with hamstring issues in recent days.

Kai Havertz has also now returned to training, but it’s highly unlikely he will be thrown straight into the starting XI on Sunday having been sidelined for so long.

So Martinelli feels like the most likely option right now. He could play centrally, with Trossard on the left and Saka on the right.

Arsenal just looked so much more dangerous when Martinelli and Trossard switched positions at Anfield so hopefully Arteta takes something from that and sets up in a similar way against Newcastle.

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