Arsenal reach verbal agreement with European giants for 22-year-old star - Reports
Arsenal have verbally agreed to sign Jurrien Timber from Eredivisie giants Ajax in a deal worth up to €47 million, according to Dutch daily De Telegraaf.
The Gunners have announced the signing of Kai Havertz from Chelsea on a €75 million deal. It has also been widely reported that they have an agreement in place to acquire Declan Rice from West Ham United for around €122 million.
It appears that Arsenal are edging closer to making another addition to their squad, as they look to snap up the 22-year-old Timber. Mikel Arteta's side have been working on a deal to sign the defender despite having an initial offer of around €35 million rejected by Ajax last week.
According to the aforementioned source, the Gunners and Ajax have verbally reached an agreement over a €42 million fee for Timber, which could reach €47 million after add-ons.
It's worth noting that the Netherlands international agreed a five-year contract with Arsenal on Sunday (June 25). Only a medical stands between the player and his desire to move to the Emirates. Timber is expected to fly to England to finalize his switch from Ajax in the coming days.
Timber, who has been with Ajax since 2014, is set to end his nine-year stint with the Eredivisie giants. The defender has made 121 appearances across competitions for the club, helping them win the league (twice) and the Dutch Cup.
It's unclear whether Timber will become an immediate starter at Arsenal under Arteta. William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes are the Spaniard's preferred center-back pairing. As a right-sided defender, the Dutchman likely has to compete with Saliba for a place in the starting lineup.
Another option for Timber is to play as an inverted right-back, with Ben White, Saliba and Gabriel forming a back three in Arteta's system. With Oleksandr Zinchenko, Kieran Tierney, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakub Kiwior also available, options are aplenty for the Gunners boss.
Arsenal could turn attention towards player sales
Signing Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber will see Arsenal's expenditure this summer go up to €244 million. Hence, they could turn their attention towards offloading some of their players before making more additions. Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey and Nicolas Pepe are among those who could leave this summer.
The Gunners are reportedly waiting to finalize Rice's signing before allowing Xhaka to join Bayer Leverkusen, who has reportedly agreed personal terms with them. Partey, meanwhile, is said to have interest from Juventus and three clubs in Saudi Arabia. The north London giants are expected to sell Pepe after his decent spell on loan at OGC Nice.
Raising funds through player sales could help the Premier League giants side step up their interest in other players. They're said to be interested in Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia and PSV Eindhoven's Xavi Simons.