Arsenal line up four-man transfer shortlist as Mikel Arteta's January budget emerges
Arsenal are monitoring four players ahead of the January transfer window despite having a limited budget available.
The Gunners have made a strong start to the Premier League season and sit joint top of the table alongside rivals Tottenham after eight matches. The 1-0 win over Manchester City before the international break shows the progress they have made, but Mikel Arteta knows better than most that the most difficult part of the season is still to come.
Mirror Football understands that Arteta has made Toney his number-one transfer target for January and is determined to get Arsenal to the front of the queue ahead of Chelsea and Tottenham. Toney will return from his betting ban in the New Year and Brentford are prepared to sell, but only if their £60million price tag is met.
That might well be a problem for Arsenal, with The Athletic reporting that there ‘isn’t much budget or desire to do significant business’ in the upcoming window. The Gunners’ financial position is demonstrated by the fact they signed David Raya on an initial loan with an option to buy from Brentford in August.
Raya has now surpassed Aaron Ramsdale as Arteta’s first-choice goalkeeper and will cost Arsenal £27m to sign permanently. That signing will be a priority for Arsenal, but there are other positions they wish to strengthen if the chance arises.
A centre-forward like Toney is top of the list, with competition needed for Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah. The Gunners are also keen to sign a back-up to Bukayo Saka, who has recently struggled with injuries, due in part to his huge workload. German newspaper Bild reports that Arsenal are among the sides tracking Dani Olmo, who fits their brief as an intelligent and positionally flexible player. Olmo, 25,
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