Lewis-Skelly future, Vini Jr fallout and Yildiz - Arsenal transfer latest
· Tom Canton · 2026-08-11 · nguồn gốc
Myles Lewis-Skelly future, Vinicius Junior fallout and Kenan Yildiz - Arsenal transfer latest
football.london rounds up their latest understanding regarding the transfer window and Arsenal
It was a mixed week for Arsenal in the transfer market as they secured their priority midfield target, Bruno Guimaraes, but were hit with the damaging blow of Vinicius Junior renewing his contract with Real Madrid. There are now just 10 days before the Premier League gets underway.
Arsenal’s pursuit of Vini Jr was not doomed from the start like some might suggest. The Gunners truly had a good opportunity to sign the player and football.london understands they went extremely far to attempt to make it a reality.
The situation, however, changed to the detriment of Arsenal’s hopes. Previously, Real Madrid’s stance was that the player would not be offered an improved deal, and they were keen to show strength so as not to impact future negotiations with other players.
FOLLOW OUR ARSENAL FB PAGE! Latest Gunners news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page
However, Arsenal’s pursuit provided Vini Jr with strength in his own position, and, with a preference to remain in the Spanish capital, Real Madrid folded, upped their offer, and this was well received following the talks upon his return. A new deal was signed, leaving Arsenal with concerns over what they can now do with mere weeks remaining in the window.
Kenan Yildiz and Julian Alvarez are the standout offensive candidates that the club is seeing links with; there are major issues with both. The Juventus winger is seen as effectively untransferable, and to sign the Turk will take a monumental fee way beyond the player’s market value to convince them to sell.
Alvarez, meanwhile, is due to hold talks with Atletico Madrid this week. The Argentine is clearly besotted with the idea of leaving, but not for Arsenal, and instead to go to Barcelona. Mikel Arteta is a massive fan of the player, and the Spaniard can be a master at convincing stars to choose North London, but in this case, it appears a very tall order – as does the potential fee, which could cost in excess of £100million.
With so little time before the season starts, a defender should be a bigger priority as William Saliba and Jurrien Timber remain out injured, with the former expected to miss an extended period.
Ezri Konsa is the standout choice, as Cristian Romero looks set to move to Atletico Madrid. However, football.london understands both Arsenal and Aston Villa remain very far apart in their valuation, with the West Midlands club looking for around £60million for the 28-year-old.
However, the big story surrounding Arsenal presently is Myles Lewis-Skelly. football.london reported exclusively that Chelsea have been approached over a potential move for the 19-year-old.
The arrival of Bruno Guimaraes with the presence of Mikel Merino, Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi, Piero Hincapie and Riccardo Calafiori makes the competition for places in midfield and left-back incredibly hectic.
Arteta was asked in May what he had come to learn about Lewis-Skelly as the season had gone on and he’d broken into the team as a midfielder. The Spaniard admitted that when he wasn’t playing at much, he didn’t initially take on board his guidance, but that on the third or fourth attempt, he realised.
“Because I need to put on a Myles Lewis-Skelly hat to understand how he's feeling,” Arteta said. “He's a boy that was playing with the Under-18s in the Under-21s, but he wasn't even playing.
“He was playing a different position. He comes in, he comes through, he plays in a completely different position that he's never played before.
“He's exceptional. Everybody's talking about him. He goes to the national team, he comes back from pre-season, and then he starts to realise that maybe he's not going to be a starter. You need to go through those emotions.
“Not only you, but the people next to you as well, who are giving you advice. You have to navigate through that, and that's not easy. I understand that.
“It's easy when it goes so well for you, but when it goes the other way, the temptation is going to start to point to people. I need to understand that, and I need to guide him, and I need to give him my perspective, the reasons why he wasn't playing that much.
“And he took it on board, not the first one. After three or four times, I think he realised, okay, I think if it’s not this way, I don't think it's going to happen.”
This pertains to Hincapie’s arrival in the summer, demoting Lewis-Skelly to third-choice left-back. The teenager was not regularly used as he was the season before.
Lewis-Skelly has started every pre-season match so far, and was understood to be a key part of the club’s plans for the season. However, Guimaraes’ arrival and interest from other clubs, if they’re willing to pay big money, could see a fan favourite leave before the window closes.
Other outgoings concern Gabriel Jesus, who is the subject of interest from Napoli, although the financial element of the deal is expected to be a complicated matter to solve. football.london reported that Galatasaray have enquired about Gabriel Martinelli, but unless they identify a clear left wing target, the Brazilian is expected to stay.
Reiss Nelson is subject to interest from West Ham that would finally bring his tenure at the club to an end. Fabio Vieira continues to await an agreement between Arsenal and Hamburger SV who have been far apart on valuations.