Arsenal 'told' two interested clubs to pay £16.8m for senior star this summer

As part of that, Arsenal offloaded a number of fringe stars with the likes of Eddie Nketiah and Aaron Ramsdale leaving on permanent deals, while Reiss Nelson, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Tavares left on loan. Kieran Tierney was perhaps the only player who was made available but did not leave, largely due to a hamstring injury that would have seen him fail a medical at an interested club. That’s a situation that is likely to be resolved in January.

There was also talk of Jakub Kiwior departing this summer, with the Poland international having fallen out of favour both at centre-back and full-back. According to a fresh report from TuttoMercatoWeb, a number of clubs actually approached the Gunners to sign Kiwior in the window just gone.

Bologna, who sold Calafiori to Arsenal, are said to have made an approach, and they were reportedly joined by Inter Milan. There were reports towards the end of the window that claimed that Arteta had changed his mind over Kiwior and decided not to sell him.

But the report suggests that decision may have come out of neccessity with no club willing to match Arsenal’s asking price of £16.8million, which is 20million euros. Both Italian clubs are said to have turned their nose up at that asking price, while Kiwior was said to be keen to return to Italy.

Arsenal bought the versatile full-back for around £15million from Spezia Calcio last year, and it’s no surprise they want to make their money back and make a little profit given the 24-year-old has shown he is capable of playing at the top level, while he is under contract until 2028. Nevertheless, the price looks to have proved a stumbling block, and while Kiwkior is yet to feature this season, he will no doubt be seen as a useful player for Arteta given his ability to play across the back line.