Arsenal are in negotiations over a pair of deals for two of the brightest young talents around, and Fabrizio Romano has revealed the timeline for expected agreements.
Amid a raft of injuries this term, Arsenal have been forced to rely on youth to plug the gaps. Thankfully for Mikel Arteta and co, The Gunners have produced several sensations who are already making meaningful impacts at senior level.
After initially showing reluctance to throw 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri into the mix during Martin Odegaard’s injury absence, Nwaneri quickly proved his manager’s doubts were unfounded in the latter stages of 2024.
Over at left-back, Myles Lewis-Skelly, 18, has been a revelation since breaking into the first-team in mid-December.
The duo are graduates of Arsenal’s Hale End Academy and are expected to light up The Emirates for the next decade and beyond.
And in a landmark moment for the pair, they started together for the first time in the Premier League during Saturday’s clash with Wolves.
Unfortunately for Lewis-Skelly, a hugely contentious straight red card inside 45 minutes gave his side a mountain to climb and also resulted in Nwaneri being hooked at half time.
But of course, Arsenal must first tie the pair down to long-term deals before they can look too far into the future, something they didn’t achieve with Chido Obi-Martin who left for Man Utd last summer.
What’s more, another Arsenal youngster – centre-back Ayden Heaven – also looks on course to sign with Man Utd.
But according to Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal are working feverishly to tie Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri down to new deals and talks on both fronts are in full swing.
Romano suggested Arsenal’s aim is to finalise agreements before the end of 2025 and the club are ‘confident’ common ground will be found.
“Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri both start together for Arsenal in Premier League for the first time,” wrote Romano on X.
“Fantastic work by the club with young talents… and negotiations underway to get new deal done for both.
“Arsenal confident to get new contracts signed this year for Lewis-Skelly and Ethan.”
Lewis-Skelly rise helps spark double Arsenal exit
Lewis-Skelly’s introduction to the left side of the defence is part of the reason why Arsenal are willing to offload a pair of left-backs this month.
Kieran Tierney is close to forging a pre-contract agreement with Celtic having entered the last six months of his deal.
Celtic are also exploring whether they can loan Tierney for six months ahead of his free agent arrival in the summer.
Oleksandr Zinchenko also has the green light to leave and ‘serious talks’ with Atletico Madrid are underway.
Per Sky Germany, Diego Simeone’s side are open to signing Zinchenko either on a permanent deal or via a loan that contains an obligation to buy.
Arsenal are demanding around €20m plus add-ons before approving the Ukrainian’s exit.
Latest Arsenal news – Cunha chooses Arsenal / Crunch time for midfield deal
In other news, GiveMeSport have echoed TEAMtalk’s claims from earlier this week that Matheus Cunha wants to join Arsenal this window.
Despite interest from Chelsea, Newcastle, Manchester United and Tottenham, the forward wants to move to The Emirates to be part of a team that is challenging for the Premier League title.
Wolves are reluctant to sell their star attacker, though a bid at or near to their £60m valuation would give Vitor Pereira’s side an agonising decision to make.
Elsewhere, David Ornstein revealed Arsenal are ‘advancing in talks’ to sign Norwegian midfield sensation, Sverre Nypan.
The Rosenborg starlet, 18, is fully expected to move to a major club this month and touched down in England ahead of talks with Manchester City.
Yet according to Ornstein, it’s Arsenal who hope to win the race and per reports in Nypan’s native Norway, a deal will cost around £10.8m.
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