Arteta identifies first summer transfer as Arsenal seek to exploit FFP turmoil

24 March 2024 , 18:53

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Mikel Arteta has identified his first summer transfer target (Image: PA)

Arsenal are keen admirers of Nottingham Forest star Morgan Gibbs-White and could be tempted into a summer swoop for the midfielder.

Forest could have little choice but to cash in on some of their prized assets after the club were found to have breached the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules and were slapped with a four-point deduction as a result.

Forest had exceeded the £61m yearly loss threshold by £34.5m and now the Gunners could try and exploit their predicament and are mulling over a move for Gibbs-White as the summer transfer window creeps closer.

Gibbs-White arrived at the City Ground in 2022 after Forest paid Wolves a whopping £42.5million and has established himself as one of their star players ever since. With nine goal contributions across all competitions so far this term, the 24-year-old may have played his way onto Mikel Arteta's transfer wish list.

The Daily Star have claimed that the Arsenal boss is planning to bolster his midfield options after the current campaign. Emile Smith Rowe burst onto the scene in late 2020, but has failed to kick on and could be sold to fund the club's pursuit of his replacement.

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Late last year, Gibbs-White waxed lyrical over Arsenal's talismanic forward Bukayo Saka with comments that will now only add further fuel to the rumours he's bound for the Emirates. "Bukayo [Saka] for me is at the minute one of the best players in the world," Gibbs-White told Premier League media.

"I just think with Bukayo, he doesn't go out of his comfort zone, he knows what he's good at. He's mastered it and it works every time, cut inside on your left, boom, goal, he must practice it every single day in training."

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Morgan Gibbs-White is believed to be on Arsenal's transfer wish list

For the time being, full focus from everyone associated with Arsenal will have to be on one last push for Premier League and Champions League glory following the return of club football after the international break.

Next up on the fixture list for the Gunners is an absolutely huge meeting with Manchester City at the Etihad next Sunday. A win would put Arteta's firmly in the driving seat for the title, which would be their first for two decades

As for Gibbs-White, he can't afford to have his head turned by the rumoured Arsenal interest, given Forest now languish in 18th. Premier League survival is the main priority over at the City Ground.

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Josh O'Brien