Unai Emery will be looking to stamp his mark on the Arsenal squad this summer as he prepares for his first season in charge of the Gunners.
The club hierarchy sensibly moved quickly after the end of last season to appoint the Spaniard as Arsene Wenger’s successor, giving him as much time as possible this summer to settle and get his plans in place.
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Looking at Arsenal’s biggest vulnerabilities last season, bolstering his attacking options doesn’t necessarily stand out as the most glaring issue for Emery to address.
He’ll have Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to call upon in that department, and particularly after the Gunners conceded 51 goals in 38 Premier League games to have the worst defensive record of the top seven sides, it would seem obvious where Emery needs to act.
Nevertheless, according to Football.London, via O Jogo, it’s claimed that the north London giants have set their sights on Sporting Lisbon winger Gelson Martins, who is said to have a £52.7m release clause in his current contract and is also attracting interest from Juventus.
It remains to be seen whether or not either side are willing to meet that figure but the 23-year-old is coming off the back of another impressive campaign in which he bagged 13 goals and 13 assists in 52 appearances in all competitions.
Perhaps one thing that he does offer which Emery might not have at his disposal currently at the Emirates, is that he could provide genuine width and quality on the flanks, and so that could add an interesting new dynamic to the Arsenal side to avoid everything going through the middle.
Time will tell if Arsenal or Juventus swoop this summer, but first things first for Martins, he’ll be hoping to play his part in the World Cup to help Portugal add another crown to their collection after their Euro 2016 triumph which in turn could really strengthen the argument for either side to make their move.