Emery hands Arsenal transfer blow with £50m Onana agreement reached

Arsenal transfer target Amadou Onana is in the process of finalising a move to Aston Villa, according to the Athletic’s David Ornstein.

The Everton midfielder has been linked to joining the Gunners over the past few trading periods, though he is now on the verge of arriving at Villa Park in a £50million deal. football.london understands the priority of Mikel Arteta and Edu is to sign a midfielder this summer, however the potential options are dwindling.

With Onana closing in on a summer switch to Villa, AS Monaco’s Youssouf Fofana, who had also been targeted by Arsenal, is not currently focused on moving to the Premier League, with his priority to join AC Milan with personal terms having already been agreed.

As Thomas Partey is still expected to depart, Arsenal bringing in a replacement seems a necessity with Dani Olmo and Eberechi Eze two attack-minded options alongside Real Sociedad duo Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi as defensive targets.

Arteta is a keen admirer of Merino with the 28-year-old’s talents and physicality impressing the Gunners boss. With the Spain international’s contract up next summer, Arsenal could strike a bargain deal for as little as €30million (£25m), as per Spanish outlet Estadio Deportivo.

In terms of remaining targets, Arsenal’s shortlist is getting increasingly smaller with another potential signing on the move elsewhere. With Arsenal’s business appearing behind other Premier League clubs, Arteta has explained why that may be happening.

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Speaking to Arsenal ’s website, he said: “I think you can tell everything is a bit slower. I think the market and the new rules in place have caused that clubs are more aware and it’s a bit more delicate to do business in the way we’ve done in the last few seasons.

“We have adapted to that, and we still want to deliver what we want in the transfer window to have a much more competitive team, and improve the squad in every area that we can.”