Arsenal have one week to avoid huge transfer loss amid Martin Zubimendi deal

Arsenal are gearing up for next season and hoping to make moves in the summer transfer window to give Mikel Arteta the squad he needs to finally win the Premier League.

The Gunners have come close to lifting the trophy in the last three years, finishing in second place to Manchester City twice and Liverpool last season. And Arteta has already made it clear he is expecting a "big" summer in terms of incoming players to boost the squad.

Back in April, the Arsenal manager said: "The way we planned the five first summers, they were going to be very big and they were going to have different objectives because the turnaround of players and the objective of those windows was going to be different.

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"But now when you are going to go again, we want to increase the depth of the squad but as well we want to increase the quality and the skills that we need to go to the next step.

"Every summer is big because it is an opportunity and especially because of the number of players we have in the squad right now that is necessary.

"But it's a big summer for many things because first of all we have to maintain the good foundations that we have and then obviously how can we improve and evolve the team."

There have been months of links to players who could improve the team, one of whom is Martin Zubimendi. The Real Sociedad midfielder is expected to make the move to north London when the new year of accounting begins for a number of football clubs, with the transfer being counted towards next season's books.

However, with just a week to go before the start of next month there's another huge decision pending for Arsenal. The future of Thomas Partey is still unclear, despite the midfielder being out of contract next week.

The 32-year-old had arguably his best season since moving to north London from Atletico Madrid in 2020, with injuries hampering him in previous seasons.

However, there seems to have been no progress on a new deal, despite rumours that the Gunners are keen on keeping the midfielder for next season at the very least.

Arsenal are up against the clock if they do wish to keep the Ghana international at the club, with his contract expiring on June 30. With Arteta already emphasising the need to increase the depth of the squad, a transfer for Zubimendi with Partey leaving on a free transfer would only be a replacement rather than an addition to numbers.

Andrea Berta has made new contracts one of his priorities since starting in his role of sporting director, with Gabriel Magalhaes the latest star to tie down his future in north London. But whether or not Partey signs a new deal at the Emirates Stadium is likely to be answered in the coming days.