"Sensational" player has held talks to leave Arsenal, "highly unlikely" he stays - journalist

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is on the verge of losing a star player this summer, and it is believed he's already held talks over joining a big club.

Players likely to leave Arsenal this summer

Alongside the likes of Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Tavares, who are both expected to complete permanent moves away from Arsenal amid impressive loan spells at Sevilla and Lazio respectively (Pete O'Rourke), other Gunners players appear set for the exit door as well.

Real Betis' Vitor Roque in action with Valencia's Javi Guerra 

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Arsenal's next five Premier League games

Date

Ipswich Town (away)

April 20th

Crystal Palace (home)

April 23rd

Bournemouth (home)

May 3rd

Liverpool (away)

May 11th

Newcastle United (home)

May 18th

The Hale End academy graduate, who's been at London Colney for 17 years, doesn't appear to have a long-term future under Arteta, and will most likely be up for grabs again when the summer window reopens.

Fabio Vieira, meanwhile, is enjoying a productive spell on loan at Porto this term, bagging five goals and four assists in 34 appearances across all competitions, but journalist Charles Watts has predicted that Arsenal are still likely to sell him permanently, especially considering the presence of rising star Ethan Nwaneri.

“I don’t think it is an absolute certainty that his Arsenal career is finished," said Watts to CaughtOffside.

fabio-vieira-porto

"But I would be surprised at this point if he comes back and makes the grade in north London. I still think the most likely option is that he moves on permanently come the end of the season.

“Arteta admitted that Vieira was allowed to leave so that Ethan Nwaneri could get more minutes this season and Nwaneri has already shown how good he can be. It just feels like an exit is inevitable and that Arsenal will have to take a fairly big financial hit on a player they spent £34 million on back in 2022."

Arsenal are also ready to sell Oleksandr Zinchenko this summer, with the Ukranian falling down Arteta's pecking order and Andrea Berta seemingly keen to trim his £150,000-per-week wages off the books.

Thomas Partey highly likely to leave Arsenal with Barcelona talks held

There is also the matter of Arsenal's out-of-contract duo Jorginho and Thomas Partey.

As things stand, both men are set to leave on free deals past June 30th, and a debate has surrounded whether Berta should negotiate fresh terms with the latter following Partey's impressive run of form lately.

Arsenal-Partey

The £200,000-per-week Ghanaian put in a brilliant performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League last week and scored against Brentford during Arsenal's 1-1 draw with the Bees last weekend.

The "sensational" former Atlético Madrid ace is rumoured to be eyeing an exit regardless, and now journalist Graeme Bailey is reporting that Partey is "highly" likely to leave Arsenal this summer.

"As it stands, Thomas Partey is highly unlikely to remain with Arsenal this summer," wrote Bailey on X.

"Barcelona want Thomas Partey as their Joshua Kimmich alternative, and they have held talks."

With discussions already taking place with Barca, Arteta faces a very real prospect of losing one of his most reliable players of recent times, and one who's made 45 appearances in all competitions, including as a makeshift right-back.