Andrea Berta set for Arsenal director role with striker targeted
News emerged over the weekend that former Atlético Madrid transfer chief, Andrea Berta, is set to become Arsenal's new sporting director following Edu Gaspar's departure from north London in November.
Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez applauds their fans
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The 53-year-old reached an agreement to join Arsenal after advanced and positive negotiations last week, and had been taking English lessons since January. Berta apparently always gave preference to a Premier League role, and the Gunners had him top of a five-man shortlist to replace Edu (Ben Jacobs).
Arsenal's next five Premier League games
Date
Chelsea (home)
March 16th
Fulham (home)
April 1st
Everton (away)
April 5th
Brentford (home)
April 12th
Ipswich Town (away)
April 20th
All documents are in place for Berta to sign as Arsenal's new sporting director, according to Fabrizio Romano, and one of his first orders of business will be to identify a perfect, attainable centre-forward for Arteta ahead of the next campaign.
As per GiveMeSport, Berta already has four Arsenal attacking targets lined up, with groundwork already laid in pursuit of RB Leipzig starlet Benjamin Sesko, while Newcastle United forward Alexander Isak also remains high on their list of potential options.
Newcastle-Alexander-Isak
There are also reports that Arsenal have scheduled talks with Victor Osimhen's agents, while others even suggest that the north Londoners are ready to pay his £62 million release clause (Daily Trust).
Other high-profile targets to be linked come in the form of Sporting Lisbon star Viktor Gyokeres and Atalanta talisman Ademola Lookman.
The latter has starred under Gian Piero Gasperini in Serie A over the last two seasons, playing as a second striker and centre-forward, but the versatile attacker was recently at the centre of a penalty-taking row with his manager.
Atalanta's Ademola Lookman celebrates scoring their third goal with Ederson and Matteo Ruggeri and completes his hat-trick
Sky Sports have reported since then that Lookman is certain to leave Atalanta this summer as a result of internal issues, with Arsenal also said to have made contact.
Ademola Lookman "very" keen on move to London as Arsenal target him
As per TEAMtalk, Lookman is indeed on Arsenal's list of transfer targets, and the player is apparently "very" keen on a move to London specifically.
This comes as Arteta has specifically requested a new striker from the Arsenal board, with sources confirming to the outlet that Lookman is an option for them alongside the likes of Sesko and Gyokeres.
However, they do face competition from Chelsea and Barcelona for the Nigerian's signature, and it is believed the latter European heavyweights have already made an approach to his agents as they eye a long-term Robert Lewandowski replacement.
Atalanta's Ademola Lookman celebrates scoring their second goal with Atalanta's Marten de Roon and Atalanta's Lazar Samardzic
Atalanta, meanwhile, will demand around £54 million to sell Lookman this summer, according to other reports. The former Fulham and Everton star scored a hat-trick in the Europa League final last year to end Bayer Leverkusen's season-long unbeaten run, and has continued his excellent form this season with 18 goals and seven assists from 31 appearances in all competitions.
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