Arsenal have further meetings lined up to sign ‘one of the best in the world’

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Arsenal’s summer has not exactly gotten off to a flying start but the club are looking to put that right by adding some quality additions.

Mikel Arteta‘s side are one of the Premier League sides still awaiting their first signing of the summer window.

However, that has not been through a lack of effort with Arsenal locked in talks for multiple players currently.

The Gunners are closing in on their first arrival with Charlie Setford booked in for his medical in north London.

But negotiations for other players have not been as straightforward as Edu Gaspar has now lined up further rounds of discussion to try and finalise one specific deal.

• READ MORE: Club putting pressure on their ‘world class’ player to make his mind up after Arsenal show interest

Arsenal set for fresh talks over £42m summer target

The saga of the summer in north London is proving to be the deal for Italy international Riccardo Calafiori to make the move to the Emirates.

On the player’s side, the deal is done with Calafiori having already agreed a five-year contract with Arsenal.

However, on Bologna’s side of the deal, it is far from done with the Italian club facing some unwanted expenses in their potential sale of the 22-year-old.

But the Gunners are keen to finalise the deal with Calafiori seemingly viewed as their priority this summer.

• READ MORE: Arsenal hand ‘hugely talented’ 14-year-old with squad number after impressing Mikel Arteta last season

According to Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal have further talks with Bologna lined up over the proposed deal to land Calafiori.

“Arsenal and Bologna remain in contact but there’s no agreement over the €50m fee,” said Romano.

“The issue is that Bologna want guaranteed money while Arsenal’s proposal includes add-ons structure to get to €50m (£42m) potential fee. Despite what has been suggested elsewhere, there’s no ‘issue’ with Basel: they will receive 50% of the deal, that’s it. Bologna want €50m fixed exactly because they have to give over €20m (£16.8m) to Basel, this is the point.

“Let’s see if the clubs can reach a breakthrough in talks soon, but for now there isn’t really any major development to report.”

Landing Riccardo Calafiori would be a real statement of intent

Arsenal came out of the 2023/24 campaign with the Premier League’s best defensive record having only conceded 29 goals.

To add a player of Calafiori’s calibre to the defence already at the club would be a major statement.

The Italian has already been hailed as ‘one of the best in the world’ by the Breaking the Lines scouting report when analysing his dominance in the air.

Small tweaks may be all Arteta needs to overturn Manchester City’s dominance at the top and strengthening the best defence in the league could be a big step forward ahead of the new campaign.