Arsenal’s first new summer signing is reported to be virtually done, with Leicester City winger Jeremy Monga close to a move that would make the 16-year-old their opening piece of business. The deal would land while Mikel Arteta’s side are still being linked with bigger attacking names, but the teenager looks set to arrive first.
That is why Arsenal Mikel Arteta summer transfers are being searched now. After winning the Premier League title for the first time in 22 years and then losing on penalties to PSG in the Champions League final in their 2025/26 campaign, Arsenal are expected to be busy. The club’s recruitment plan has already been narrowed to two major priorities: a world-class striker and a new left-sided winger.
Monga fits the club’s wider push to refresh the attack, even if he is not the headline name many supporters expected at this stage. The Leicester teenager made 30 appearances this season and is now being lined up as Arsenal’s first confirmed addition of the window, while the club are also said to have agreed a summer deal to make Piero Hincapie’s move permanent from Bayer Leverkusen. In the background, Arsenal are being linked with Julian Alvarez, Junior Kroupi and Morgan Rogers as they look for more firepower and width.
That is where the contrast becomes impossible to miss. Arsenal are being tied to a world-class striker and a new left-sided winger, but the first reported arrival is a player still only 16. It is a reminder that the club’s summer business may not open with a marquee forward at all, and that the first move could be about securing a talent for the future rather than solving the biggest problem immediately.
Clinton Morrison said Arsenal still need another striker to keep pressure on Viktor Gyokeres and challenge Kai Havertz, and he also argued they need another left winger because players such as Gabriel Jesus may want regular football elsewhere. That view matches the shape of Arsenal’s shopping list, but it does not answer the timing problem. For now, Monga looks close to becoming the first new name through the door, while the more expensive attacking decisions remain the ones Arsenal still have to make.
