Arsenal round-up: Gunners enter midfielder race; Palace ready to submit second bid; Cech discusses pre-season

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Arsenal have entered the race to sign Ross Barkley, who is also on the radar of North London rivals Tottenham. The Standard report that the Gunners are monitoring the situation and are prepared to make a move if the price suits them. Everton have placed a £50 million valuation on the England international, but interested parties hope that a deal can be reached for a lower fee of around £25 million.

The Gunners still need to make two or three additions to boost their squad ahead of what will be a testing campaign. They need another central midfielder and Barkley could be a good fit for their new 3-4-2-1 formation, but the fee could make a deal for the 23-year-old difficult.

Everton are unlikely to lower their demands significantly as they know the value that Barkley holds in the modern market. There are better players available for a lower cost and it could be that Arsenal are better off looking elsewhere.

ESPN report that Crystal Palace are set to make an improved offer for Calum Chambers. Their opening offer of £16 million was turned down as the Gunners value him closer to £20 million. Frank de Boer remains interested in the English defender and it is expected that the Eagles make an improved offer. Arsenal could be ready to sell the player to raise funds as he has fallen down the pecking order at the Emirates Stadium.

This is an interesting proposal for the Gunners, as there could be a place for Chambers in the squad, especially if they continue with their three-man defence. They are already facing defensive problems for the opening few weeks and the sale of Chambers won’t help those.

That said, Arsenal need to raise money to fund their own recruitment, as they are finding prices at an all-time high. He is certainly one of the more saleable assets that the club have and it could be that the money is too good to turn down. If they do sell him, then they would be wise to include a buy-back clause as he has the potential to develop into a fine centre half in the future.

The club are currently in China for their pre-season preparations and they managed to beat Bayern Munich on penalties in a friendly earlier this week. Petr Cech has been talking about the team’s training and suggested that the sessions are important in getting the players ready for the new season. The Mirror quote him as saying:

“We need to find a way to keep hydrated and you need to rest as well. The more you go on tours, the more people know what to expect so we are ready for it.

“Everybody needs to find a way. We had very good facilities in Sydney, very positive facilities in China and it’s been what we need.”

There are always doubts regarding the value of flying across the world for pre-season, but these comments from Cech suggest that Arsenal are benefitting from their training camps. After missing out on the Champions League last season, the Gunners can’t afford to start slowly, therefore it is important that they are fully prepared to go into their first match of the season.

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