Andrea Berta is pressing ahead with Arsenal’s summer midfield search by talking through personal terms with several candidates before the club decides which deals to push forward. Contact with representatives has taken place in the last few days, but there has been no formal contact between clubs so far.
The names under review include Ayyoub Bouaddi, Alex Scott, Manu Kone and Hugo Larsson, with two other midfielders still being kept out of the picture. Arsenal are not chasing one obvious answer yet; they are checking the terms attached to a number of possible additions and trying to pin down player interest before any step is taken with another club.
That matters now because Arsenal are in the middle of shaping their summer recruitment plan in midfield, and Berta is the one carrying the work forward. The club is using the current round of talks to sort out what each player wants, what each camp is prepared to accept, and how far Arsenal can go before formal negotiations begin. Those talks have already moved far enough for the club to ask for clarity on personal terms, interest and the wider conditions attached to each option.
There is, though, a clear limit to how far this process has gone. Arsenal have not opened formal club-to-club negotiations, which leaves the search in a holding pattern even as the candidate list grows. Around the market, clubs are also using Elliot Anderson’s deal as a benchmark, Newcastle are holding out for a significant fee for Sandro Tonali, and Crystal Palace are taking a tough line on Adam Wharton. The HandofArsenal said Tonali was offered to Arsenal in January, and talks on him have still not moved beyond personal terms today.
Arsenal are also keeping a close watch on developments at Real Madrid, while Declan Rice remains central to Mikel Arteta’s plans. For now, that points to a recruitment race built on groundwork rather than immediate bids, with Berta trying to narrow the field before Arsenal decide which midfielder is actually worth turning into a formal move.
