‘Electric’ Arsenal target now desperate to join Barcelona and is willing to slash his wages

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Right now it’s abundantly clear that there’s still work to be done at Arsenal before the transfer window slams shut next week.

Eddie Nketiah is close to leaving Arsenal, the Gunners have almost agreed a fee with Nottingham Forest for the Hale End graduate to finally depart north London.

Nketiah has been hugely popular during his time at Arsenal, but is now third-choice in Mikel Arteta’s pecking order and won’t benefit from another season on the sidelines.

And if Nketiah goes, Arsenal fans may feel confident that the club will then reinvest those funds, not only in signing Mikel Merino.

Arsenal are growing frustrated with the Merino situation, a transfer that is dragging on a lot longer than many expected.

And whilst the club work to finalise a deal for the Spaniard, they’ll perhaps also be searching the market for a new wide-forward, a profile it’s believed that Arteta requested earlier this summer.

The Arsenal manager still lacks a definitive starter on the left-wing, and also doesn’t have sufficient cover for Bukayo Saka.

Arsenal target Federico Chiesa now willing to accept lower wage to join Barcelona

In that regard, Arsenal held talks with Federico Chiesa earlier in the summer according to reports.

The Italian is free to leave Juve before this month’s deadline given he’s unwilling to sign a new contract with the club.

And according to Italian outlet La Repubblica, Chiesa now seems incredibly keen to join Barcelona, and is even willing to slash his wages to do so.

According to the report, Chiesa is currently earning €6m-a-year in Italy, but would be willing to accept €4.5m-a-year in order to push a move through to Barca.

The report also details that Juventus are now willing to a bid of around £13m to sell their ‘electric’ winger this month, seemingly intent on just finding a solution for all parties.

Therefore, it currently looks as if the option to sign Chiesa late on may soon be off the cards for Arsenal, if that’s still an option that interests Arteta.

Perhaps it would in fact be a smart move for Arsenal to sign Chiesa in the same summer in which they’ve already welcomed an Italian in the shape of Riccardo Calafiori.

But with less than two weeks of the window to go, perhaps Arsenal still have a trick up their sleeves.