5 months ago
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Douglas Luiz is a player Arsenal have admired for some time. It’s not a secret. In fact, we know that they tried very hard to lure him away from Aston Villa two years ago when they had multiple bids rejected for the midfielder on deadline day.
Mikel Arteta and Edu were both convinced enough by Luiz’s quality that the club made offers, but Villa were adamant at the time that they would not sell. So we know that Arsenal are long-term admirers of the Brazilian, which explains why links are once again surfacing over a potential move this summer.
I haven’t heard anything yet to suggest that Arsenal will try again for Luiz, however. But it’s one of those transfers you could never completely rule out as we know he is a player that they like. Although at the moment, if he goes anywhere, it looks like it could be Juventus.
Arsenal moving for Luiz would make sense for a number of reasons, however. We know they are in the market for a central midfielder this summer and it looks like Villa’s PSR problems could mean that he is available for a relatively decent price.
Luiz knows the league, so would not need time to adjust to the demands of playing in England and he has shown with his form for Villa that he is a top level player who would improve the Arsenal squad.
So if Arsenal did decide to step up their interest in Luiz this summer, I wouldn’t view it as a bad move, especially if the price is a good one. It could be one of those market opportunities that arise from time to time that is just too good to walk away from.
I think if I were choosing between Luiz and Bruno Guimaraes, that I would probably opt for the latter. I just think Bruno would offer Arsenal a little bit more in terms of what they need right now.
But he would certainly be the more expensive option and given Arsenal are looking to strengthen throughout the squad this summer, I would understand it if they went down the slightly cheaper route and looked to take advantage of Villa’s need to raise some cash this window.
I just don’t see any way that Manchester City would sell a player to Arsenal this summer, especially one as talented as Julian Alvarez.
There have been reports that the Argentine forward could be on his way out of City this summer, and we’ve unsurprisingly seen a host of names linked with him, but I wouldn’t expect this to be a saga that Arsenal get involved in.
City see Arsenal as genuine challenges now. They didn’t when they sanctioned the deals for Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko two years ago, but that view has changed, for obvious reasons.
We saw it last summer when Arsenal touched base to ask about Joao Cancelo – City made it clear they would not do business with them again and I can’t see that changing this time around, given how closely matched the two teams now are.
Alvarez is a quality player, but if he does end up leaving City this summer, we won’t be seeing him pitch up at the Emirates, even if there is a need and a desire for a top signing up front.
Given what Mikel Arteta has done with Kai Havertz, you would never rule out him being able to turn around any player’s career. He’s a manager who has shown he can improve a player and get them performing at the highest level again.
Arsenal need another wide option in the squad and in Jadon Sancho, there is undoubtedly a high quality winger on the market this summer, with Manchester United looking to sell him, as per Fabrizio Romano.
Sancho gave everyone a reminder of what he can do with his performances for Dortmund while he was back in Germany on loan and I’m sure there will be plenty of interest in him on the back of that spell.
I can’t see Arsenal being one of those interested clubs, however, despite their need for a new winger – something I’ve discussed more here.
The club were interested in Sancho in the past, way back when he was still a youngster at Manchester City and hadn’t signed his new contract.
Arsene Wenger was pushing for him then, but he opted to go to Dortmund instead. And you have to say, given the way his career went after he left England for Germany, you have to say it was probably the right decision.
I’m really looking forward to the Euros and can’t wait to see all the Arsenal players in action.
Obviously, I think England have a great chance and I can see both Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice having a huge say in the tournament.
It makes me laugh when I see people questioning Saka’s place in the side. I know Cole Palmer has had a fantastic season for Chelsea, but it’s not like Saka had a bad one at Arsenal.
He scored 20 goals in all competitions, the most he’s ever scored in a single season. He also chipped in with 15 assists.

He was superb once again and has always delivered for England as well. If he’s fit, he has to start and he deserves to start.
There’s no doubt in my mind that if England go and win the Euros, then Saka will have played a big part in that.
I would love to see William Saliba start for France, but that doesn’t look like happening. It absolutely baffles me that Didier Deschamps prefers others over Saliba right now.
If I was a France fan I would be fuming to go into games with Saliba sitting on the bench.
I can see Leandro Trossard performing well for Belgium. He’s going into the tournament on the back of a really strong season and I think Belgium have a decent chance of going far in the competition. No-one is really tipping them to do much, but that might be a good thing. They don’t have that weight of expectation on them anymore and that could help them in the long-run.
I’m not quite sure what to make of Germany. They have some excellent players and in Kai Havertz they have a forward leading the line who must be full of confidence after such an impressive debut season with Arsenal.
He is also surrounded by some exceptional young talents like Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala, so Havertz could have an excellent tournament.
In fact, I could see him being one of the stars of the competition. Lots of people are writing off Germany, but that feels dangerous to me. If they get some early wins and start to build momentum with all that home support, they could be very difficult to stop.
