Arsenal sign £66m midfield gem and Rangers winger in barnstorming summer transfer window prediction
Arsenal are gearing up for another big summer in the transfer market - regardless of whether they win the Premier League title
Arenal’s Premier League title ambitions took an almighty blow last weekend, when Mikel Arteta’s side suffered a dismal 2-1 home defeat to Bournemouth. After Man City romped to a 3-0 win at Chelsea, the Gunners’ lead at the top has been slashed again, and as things stand just six points separate the two sides, with City also having a game in hand.
This Sunday, the two sides go head-to-head in what is being billed as a title decider at the Etihad Stadium, where Man City have the chance to draw even closer to their rivals. Arsenal haven’t won the competition since 2004 - their famous ‘Invincibles’ season - and will be desperate to push through their mini blip and finally get the job done.
Regardless of whether the Gunners win the title, we’re expecting them to have a busy summer, with new signings and well as plenty of players deciding to head for the exit door. While we eagerly await the transfer window opening again in mid-June, we fired up the latest edition of Football Manager, and had it predict every deal Arsenal will make in the 2026 summer window:
Arsenal predicted summer transfer window - players in
Lewis Ferguson - £66m from Bologna: OK, we’re off to a flyer here! Arsenal went all guns blazing and paid the big bucks to sign the Scotland international. The fee is certainly one that will raise eyebrows, but the Bologna captain has given a great account of himself in his four-year Serie A career thus far, and could add some real depth to the Gunners’ midfield options.
Mohamed Diomande - £21m from Rangers: We expected Arsenal to go in for a new option on the left wing, but Diomande certainly wouldn’t have been among our initial suggestions. The 24-year-old’s career so far has been split between the Danish Superliga and the Scottish Premiership, and he’ll need to be prepared for a big step up in the Premier League.
Patrick Wimmer - £39m from VfL Wolfsburg: Are Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke not enough? Apparently not, as Arteta gave the green light to the Austrian right-winger joining his squad mid-summer. In fairness, he can play on either flank, so he may well have been brought in to feature on the left.
Ryan Flamingo - £65m from PSV Eindhoven: Darling of the 3 Added Minutes staff WhatsApp group for obvious reasons, one of the best-named footballers in the game was brought in for another monster transfer fee. Quite whether his exploits as a centre-back in the Eredivisie merit such a spend is up for debate, but with his stunning surname, quite frankly who cares?
Christos Mandas - £12m from Lazio: A pragmatic move from the Gunners, who brought in the Greek goalkeeper following his loan stint with Bournemouth. He’ll serve as a low cost third choice option between the sticks, with Tommy Setford likely to go out on loan and gain for valuable first-team experience in the EFL.
Wessam Abou Ali - £5m from Columbus Crew: A rather low key deal to round things off after their mega summer spend, with the 27-year-old Palestine international arriving from the MLS outfit. We’re not entirely convinced he’s what the Gunners need in terms of competition for Viktor Gyokeres, and in real life he’s just suffered an ACL tear.
Arsenal predicted summer transfer window - players out
Jacob Kiwior - £27m to FC Porto: No surprises here to begin with - Porto agreed an obligation to buy as part of their loan deal for the 26-year-old, and Arsenal welcomed the cash for a player whose Gunners career never really took off as they would have liked. Still, the club did at least make a profit on the £20m they paid to sign him from Spezia in 2023.
Leandro Trossard - £10m to Nottingham Forest: After plenty of interest in his services last summer, Trossard ended up signing a contract extension to remain at the Emirates. He’s been such a handy option for Arteta, but clearly fancied a new challenge elsewhere, and joined Nottingham Forest after they successfully managed to avoid relegation.
Reiss Nelson - £5m to Ajax: Given the major hype around Nelson during the early stages of his career, losing him at 26-years-old for such a paltry fee can’t be seen as anything other than a failure. After an underwhelming loan spell with Brentford, Ajax rolled the dice and hoped they’d got themselves a bit of transfer bargain.
Gabriel Jesus - £37m to Atletico Madrid: Not a bad bit of business for Arsenal here at all, given that the ex-Man City forward’s contract expires in summer 2027. Atleti sold Julian Alvarez, and took a punt on Jesus as his replacement. He spent four frustrating, injury disrupted seasons with the Gunners before parting ways for a fresh start in La Liga.
Ben White - £51m to Chelsea: Suitably bonkers stuff from Chelsea to round things off. The gung-ho spenders did their London neighbours a great favour in meeting their PSR obligations, laying down a mega fee for the England international. This probably explains Arsenal’s wild Flamingo exploits, which probably isn’t a sentence you’ve read before or indeed will read again.