Who will Arsenal sign?
Mikel Arteta's side have displayed no shortage of ambition this transfer window, having already completed a trio of marquee deals for winger Kai Havertz, midfielder Declan Rice and versatile defender Jurrien Timber.
Havertz arrived first, completing a £65 million switch from London rivals Chelsea, while Rice came as their biggest outlay of the summer in a record-breaking £105 million move from West Ham.
"We’re really happy that Declan is joining us," said Arteta after his arrival.
"He is a player with tremendous ability, who has been performing at a high level in the Premier League and for England for a number of seasons now. Declan is bringing undoubted quality to the club and he is an exceptional talent who has the potential to be very successful here."
Timber's arrival from Ajax will also strengthen Arteta's defence to no end, with the Netherlands international boasting real versatility.
Zaha, who left Crystal Palace as a free agent at the start of the summer, had been linked with a move to Arsenal recently so some supporters may have expected a potential swoop for the Ivorian.
Alas, that didn't come to fruition and he instead joined up with Turkish Super Lig giants Galatasary. Speaking to TEAMtalk, Arsenal reporter Watts has shared just how close he came to joining the club back in 2019.During Unai Emery's tenure, he was a top transfer target, and he apparently "made it clear" he wanted a move to the Emirates Stadium at the time.
“I expected him to go to a different club rather than Galatasaray,” Watts told TEAMtalk.
“Interestingly, Francis Cagigao has just taken over as head of recruitment at Gala. He was at Arsenal for a long, long time. I wasn’t expecting Arsenal to do anything.
“Unai Emery really wanted him in the summer of 2019. And Arsenal signed Nicolas Pepe instead; they didn’t give Unai what he wanted. That obviously turned out to be a very bad decision.
“Zaha would have loved to come to Arsenal, he was always an Arsenal fan. He made it clear he wanted to come to Arsenal. And I’m sure he’s going to end his career pretty disappointed he never got to achieve that.
“Around that time, he probably felt there was a very good chance of that happening. Emery wanted him, he really wanted to push the board to sign him. But they went down another route.
“Once that happened, I never really expected Arsenal to rekindle that interest."
How good is Wilfried Zaha?
We believe the winger would have been a serious coup for Arsenal on a Bosman deal this year, especially considering his haul of 14 goals in 33 appearances for Palace last season (WhoScored).
Zaha also bettered every single one of his teammates in terms of attempts at goal, key passes made and successful take-ons per 90 in the final third over 2022/2023 (WhoScored).
The 30-year-old also attracted more fouls than any other Palace player, highlighting what a tricky player he can be to play against.
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