{"id":30177,"date":"2025-07-01T15:28:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T15:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/30177\/"},"modified":"2025-07-01T15:28:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T15:28:08","slug":"arsenal-announce-first-summer-transfer-and-could-complete-three-more-football-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/30177\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal announce first summer transfer and could complete three more | Football | Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arsenal<\/a> have confirmed the \u00a35million signing of Kepa Arrizabalaga from Chelsea<\/a>, with the goalkeeper joining to provide back-up to David Raya after an impressive year on loan at Bournemouth<\/a>. The Gunners pushed to bring the Spain international in<\/a> after Neto was sent back to the Vitality Stadium after a year’s stint in north London.<\/p>\n

Kepa became the world’s most expensive goalkeeper in history when Chelsea<\/a> paid \u00a371.6m to sign him from Athletic Club in 2018. After a disappointing few years at Chelsea<\/a>, their local rival activated a clause in his contract and he will link up with his new team-mates this month for pre-season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m really, really happy to be here, really excited and looking forward to what is coming,” Kepa said. \u201cThe ambition that is shown in this club, when I talk with Mikel [Arteta] and Inaki [Cana], how much they show me their desire to win\u2026 I think we are so close to winning and, hopefully, altogether, we can achieve it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arteta added of his new number 13: \u201cWe are really happy to have Kepa joining us. He is a player we know, having come up against him many times in recent seasons. He brings a wealth of experience, which his teammates will benefit from, and he has a real hunger to win.<\/p>\n

\u201cKepa works hard and will elevate our levels. I know he will fit in perfectly, already knowing some of his teammates, and we are really excited about his future with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kepa is the first player through the door this summer but Arsenal<\/a> are expected to escalate their business in July. As many as three more deals could even be completed as soon as this week.<\/p>\n

The club are putting the finishing touches on moves for Martin Zubimendi<\/a> and Christian Norgaard. Both midfielders are expected to replace Thomas Partey, who is departing on a free transfer after Arsenal<\/a> failed to agree fresh terms on a new contract for the 32-year-old.<\/p>\n

The Gunners are planning on activating Zubimendi’s \u00a351m release clause at Real Sociedad and have agreed terms with the player on a contract, while Norgaard is expected to join from Brentford for an initial \u00a310m<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They are also trying to bring in an attacking player, with the likes of Eberechi Eze, Rodrygo and Noni Madueke all targets in addition to a new striker.<\/p>\n

For the latest breaking stories and headlines, sign up to our Daily Express transfer newsletter<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Arsenal<\/a>\u00a0have held talks with Crystal Palace playmaker Eze<\/a>, who has a \u00a368m release clause in his contract, though the Eagles are awaiting to discover their European fate over concerns that they could be kicked out of the Europa League<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Gunners have reportedly made an offer to Chelsea<\/a> winger Madueke, having been alerted to the possibility that he could leave Stamford Bridge following another wave of new additions.<\/p>\n

Brazil international Rodrygo also remains of interest but a move would only be approved if he asks to leave Real Madrid, with speculation persisting that he has grown disillusioned with his role in the team behind Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham.<\/p>\n

A deal for a winger could move quickly once Arsenal<\/a> decide on their prime target.<\/p>\n

Sporting director Andrea Berta also wants to add more firepower and the likes of Benjamin Sesko, Viktor Gyokeres and Hugo Ekitike continue to be linked with moves, but their futures could drag on further into the summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arsenal have confirmed the \u00a35million signing of Kepa Arrizabalaga from Chelsea, with the goalkeeper joining to provide back-up…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":30178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[5407,9128,24284,9133,25755,461,6075,25754,25756,25753,25757,221,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-30177","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-arsenal","9":"tag-arsenal-fc","10":"tag-arsenal-news","11":"tag-arsenal-transfer-news","12":"tag-arsenal-zubimendi","13":"tag-chelsea","14":"tag-chelsea-fc","15":"tag-chelsea-news","16":"tag-chelsea-transfer-news","17":"tag-kepa","18":"tag-kepa-fee","19":"tag-soccer","20":"tag-sports","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114778688959926663","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}