Arsenal transfer news: The Gunners cannot afford to let the chance go of beating Liverpool to a potentially team-changing signing
Arsenal didn't expect to be in the position of competing with Europe's top clubs for players this summer but here they are. Jude Bellingham appears to be over the sunset and on his way to Real Madrid but there are other fish in the sea for the Gunners to go searching for.
It could mean going in and getting involved in transfer battles, not something they have become acustomed to winning. Mykhailo Mudryk ignored Arsenal's cries in January in order to get an early move while Moises Caicedo was left stranded between Brighton, Chelsea and Arsenal in the winter, too.
Before that they were dipping into a world of players effectively without competition - not many clubs would have backed £30m on a relegated goalkeeper or £50m for Ben White at the time. Ahead of the window the circumstances have changed.
Whereas Liverpool are stepping up their bid to sign Brighton's World Cup winning Alexis Mac Allister, Arsenal should be in there too. There isn't much that Jurgen Klopp can offer the 24-year-old that Arteta and sporting director Edu can't.
“We’re very fortunate from a financial point of view that we’re not a club that has to sell players to survive,” Barber has explained. That doesn't mean that they won't, though. Brighton back themselves to have the next Mac Allister before they are drawn to offers for their best players and have created a remarkably self-sustaining player development line.
It means that if Arsenal wanted to be aggressive here, they could be in with a shout. It's not the way that they have worked in the past but given the lack of squad depth overall, Mac Allister is a player to right on top of.
His father, Carlos, has all-but-revealed that he will be moving on. “Normally the next [transfer window] will find him playing in another club, we don’t know which one," he said earlier this year.
"The talks are just beginning in general, but it is most likely that Alexis will already be playing in another team next July.” It would take at least $66.3m to get him away from Roberto De Zerbi but making it happen is far from impossible.
Confrontational isn't usually Arsenal's way but Liverpool have shown themselves to be ruthlessly efficient in the transfer market in recent years, spending $754m on new players since Klopp arrived to bolster their challenge on multiple front.
Their ascent came out of the blue as well following quick and economical transfers, Arsenal have their own blueprint to work with but beating Liverpool to Mac Allister would be the sign of a new, killer edge previously unseen.
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