Exclusive: Potential issue emerging in Arsenal deal with Euro giants, says expert

There looks to be an issue emerging with Arsenal and Marseille as they negotiate the transfer of striker Eddie Nketiah this summer, according to French football expert Jonathan Johnson.

Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for his latest Daily Briefing column, Johnson explained that what currently seems to be holding this move up is the gap between Arsenal and Marseille on Nketiah’s valuation.

The 25-year-old looks like another exciting target for Marseille in this ambitious transfer window from the Ligue 1 giants, though Johnson admits it seems to be proving more of a complicated deal than they anticipated.

Marseille have already signed Mason Greenwood and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from the Premier League, and Nketiah is next on their radar, while they also hired Roberto de Zerbi as manager after he left Brighton.

It remains to be seen if they’ll get a deal done for Nketiah, but one imagines Arsenal will want to cash in on the backup striker if possible, as it would represent pure profit for a homegrown player, which would help towards staying out of trouble with Financial Fair Play.

Johnson also expects we could see more significant signings for Marseille before the summer is over.

Nketiah transfer update and more on Marseille’s impressive summer

“Marseille have signed Mason Greenwood and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg this summer, and now Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah is another Premier League player they’re looking at. The latest on the deal is that there is some distance between what Arsenal want for Nketiah and what Marseille would be ready to offer. There is a desire, however, from Roberto de Zerbi to bring in that kind of player,” Johnson said.

“I don’t think OM will have been expecting this deal to be easy, but they perhaps also wouldn’t have expected it to be as complicated as it has been, particularly with other clubs interested and curious about his situation. I think there would be logic to this signing for Marseille, especially when you look at Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang moving on, so it’s a signing that could make sense with how De Zerbi will want to play.

“Marseille’s signings so far have been good and I think they can look towards the new season with optimism. It sounds like they have a lot more business that they want to get done, not just in attack but in defence too and possibly in goal as well. I think we can expect to see OM make a couple more significant moves, while some defenders might move on as well.

“It’s a summer that’s been fascinating so far, and I think the Nketiah move isn’t one that many people will have seen coming, so let’s see what happens and if there are any others that De Zerbi knows from his time in the Premier League that he might be keen to bring to Marseille. There are still some obvious holes in the Marseille squad which will need strengthening in the coming weeks, but the moves they’ve made so far have been very interesting.”