Arsenal signing delay could cause pre-season issues

Arsenal are currently not close to a senior signing, with less than three days until the club’s pre-season tour begins.

Kaya Kaynak reports for Football.London that whilst Arsenal have agreed a fee for 18-year-old Ajax goalkeeper Tommy Setford, no senior deals are understood to be close.

Kaynak reports that Arsenal are keen to sign Bologna’s Riccardo Calafiori and Wolves’ Dan Bentley, but neither deal is nearing a conclusion.

The structure of the deal for Calafiori is currently proving problematic, as well as Jakub Kiwior’s hesitance to be used as a makeweight in the deal.

As for Bentley, Arsenal are just a long way off Wolves’ valuation, and while the Gunners may return, they haven’t done so yet.

Arsenal fly out to the United States on Sunday, July 21st, before playing their first public pre-season fixture against Bournemouth on Wednesday night (Thursday, July 25th at 03:00 BST UK time).

With less than a week until pre-season begins, it looks like Arsenal will be forced to use only the players they already have on the books for their early friendlies.

That’s primarily going to be an issue in goal, with Karl Hein the most senior goalkeeper currently in training. Aaron Ramsdale and David Raya won’t be back in action until after the U.S. tour.

Arsenal will need to call up a couple of youth goalkeepers for the trip, with new signings Setford (if confirmed) and Lucas Nygaard likely among the realistic potential options.

Arsenal are also short in a few other positions. Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba aren’t back, and Jakub Kiwior is only set to return in the coming days, so the likes of Jurrien Timber and Takehiro Tomiyasu may have to play at centre-back.

Again, Arsenal do have youth options in central defence, particularly Ayden Heaven and Zane Monlouis.

With Heaven currently in contract talks with Arsenal, this could be a good time to give him a first-team chance for multiple reasons.

Arsenal are perhaps also a bit short on the wings, with Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka not set to return for a while yet.

But Fabio Vieira, Leandro Trossard, Reiss Nelson, Gabriel Jesus, and Eddie Nketiah can fill in there, as they all have done in the past. Even though only Nelson is a full-time winger for Arsenal.

Pre-season results aren’t particularly important, and new signings and returning players should reduce this issue as the schedule progresses.

But Mikel Arteta certainly won’t have an ideal preparation for the new season, and Arsenal have a tough start to the 2024/25 campaign. It’s certainly a problem worth mentioning.