Romano says Arsenal target who’s ‘one of the best’ around is going elsewhere

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Arsenal have been heavily linked with Ilkay Gundogan in recent weeks.

The Gunners appear to have worked quite hard to try and land the Manchester City star.

On Tuesday, The Boot Room relayed a report claiming Arsenal were desperately trying to get a deal over the line.

However, the Gunners were right up against it, as Barcelona were closing in on Gundogan.

Now, it looks as though Arsenal have sadly lost the battle to bring the treble winner to the Emirates Stadium.

Fabrizio Romano has taken to Twitter to declare ‘here we go’ on Gundogan to Barca.

Our view

Gundogan is, in Pep Guardiola’s words, “one of the best players I ever trained in my career in terms of the whole package”.

But obviously we all know that. We’ve seen Gundogan work his magic for City, who have had the season of a lifetime.

It would’ve been great for Arsenal to bring him to the Emirates, linking him up with former teammates Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Perhaps Gundogan did not want to join a team expected to rival the Citizens for the title next term.

That said, it may just have been the lure of playing for Barca, and at the Camp Nou, that did it.

Arsenal probably felt that it had become a long shot anyway, considering how the Catalans were closing in.

Now they will need to pick themselves up and look elsewhere.

The Gunners are nonetheless doing well this summer, with speculation suggesting they’re closing in on other top players.

Kai Havertz looks like he’s closing in on Arsenal, as is Jurrien Timber, though he’s not quite as near.

Likewise, talks over Declan Rice are reportedly ongoing.