30 July 2023 , 03:00
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With a week to go until the Community Shield, it is looking increasingly unlikely that Arsenal will get any more incomings over the line before the start of their competitive campaign.
The Gunners face Manchester City at Wembley on August 7 in the season's curtain-raiser, and as it stands, Arsenal's three new senior arrivals could feature. Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber both played in the Gunners' 5-3 win over Barcelona, while Declan Rice picked up an injury in training.
However, the former West Ham midfielder may recover in time for the fixture against City after the Gunners finished second in the Premier League last season. Although Arsenal have been linked with Bitello and Mohammed Kudus, they are set to prioritise outgoings with Cedric and Nicolas Pepe among those that could leave.
With that in mind, here are the latest rumours coming out of the Emirates Stadium.
Inter prioritise Balogun
Inter Milan are set to prioritise Folarin Balogun as their first-choice striker target this summer. That's according to reports from La Gazzetta dello Sport, who claim Inter are moving away from the prospect of signing Alvaro Morata and prefer Arsenal's Balogun instead. The United States international, who scored 22 times in 39 matches for Reims last season, featured for the Gunners during their pre-season tour in the United States.
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But Inter are set to step up their pursuit of Balogun after they decided to pull away from signing Morata. Simone Inzaghi's side are looking for a new forward following Romelu Lukaku's return to Chelsea at the end of his season-long loan spell, although the Belgian wants to go back to San Siro on a permanent deal.
As for Balogun, he has also been linked with a move to several Premier League clubs, including Brighton, West Ham and Crystal Palace in the summer window. Arsenal value the 22-year-old at around £50million.
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Arsenal's Bitello talks
Arsenal are locked in talks over a move for Brazilian midfielder Bitello, according to reports. The 23-year-old is keen on a switch to the Emirates Stadium with Mikel Arteta ready to add another midfielder to his squad after losing Granit Xhaka to Bayer Leverkusen.
Bitello, who impressed for Gremio last season, is valued at under £9m. President Alberto Guerra spoke last week about his future and admitted many clubs have made offers, with Monaco also thought to be in the race for the highly-rated midfielder. "There are a lot of people watching Bitello, but there is no proposal, even to reassure our fans, at the moment," Guerra told Rede Sul.
Xhaka explains departure
Granit Xhaka has explained why he made the move to Bayer Leverkusen - and revealed he left the Premier League because he didn't want to play against Arsenal.
The Switzerland international, 30, completed his move to Xabi Alonso's side earlier this month after seven years at the Emirates. Many Arsenal fans were disappointed to see him leave the club, as he missed just one Premier League game last season.
Explaining his decision, Xhaka told Marca: "I spent seven magnificent years at Arsenal, I didn't want to play against them. It wasn't easy for me to leave or for the club to let me go. I felt love and respect from Edu and Arteta, but I wanted to face a new challenge at Bayer Leverkusen." He added: "It won't be easy, but we can achieve great things... the goal is to get into the Champions League and, although I'm not a dreamer, I have the feeling that we can win something."