£150k-per-week Arsenal ace holds “positive” talks to join Atletico Madrid

Mikel Arteta’s squad at Arsenal is shaping up to look rather different ahead of their opening Premier League game of 2025/2026 against Man United.

The Gunners have been repeatedly linked with a new defender, winger and striker in the last week, but sporting director Andrea Berta will also be working to offload some players in a bid to fund their recruitment drive and trim the wage bill.

Marquinhos, Kieran Tierney, Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand and Jorginho have officially left the club already, with the latter terminating his contract early so he can play for new side Flamengo at the Club World Cup.

Meanwhile, reports are beginning to suggest that Arsenal have hit a stumbling block in negotiations over a new contract for Thomas Partey (CaughtOffside), so the Ghanaian could end up following the aforementioned names out of the club’s exit door if a resolution cannot be found.

Berta also has some key decisions to make on the futures of Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

The former impressed alongside William Saliba while Gabriel was out injured last season, and plays a crucial role for Poland at international level, which has attracted keen interest from Serie A heavyweights AC Milan (La Gazzetta dello Sport).

Kiwior simply has to decide whether he wants to continue playing second fiddle behind Arteta’s preferred centre-back pairing, but the writing appears to be on the wall for Zinchenko.

The Ukraine international scarcely featured last season, making just 15 Premier League appearances, mostly off the bench, and he’s widely expected to have already played his last game in an Arsenal shirt.

Oleksandr Zinchenko holds “positive” talks to join Atlético Madrid

An emissary from Milan reportedly held talks with Arsenal over Zinchenko last week (La Gazzetta), but they’re not the only elite contenders for his signature.

According to CaughtOffside, the 28-year-old wants to leave, and Zinchenko has held “positive” talks with Atletico Madrid over an Arsenal exit. The north Londoners are prepared to green-light his exit for just £13 million, and there is a sense that Diego Simeone’s side could move forward in quick fashion to hold negotiations with Arsenal – even if they have other left-backs like Liverpool’s Andy Robertson on their agenda.

Atlético have Zinchenko, Robertson, Crystal Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell and Aston Villa’s Lucas Digne on an extensive target list as Simeone looks to reinforce the left-back area, but if the La Liga side end up moving on from Arsenal’s surplus defender, Milan are still in contention for him.

Berta will be keen to make some money back off the £30 million fee splashed on Zinchenko’s signing in 2022, but more importantly, this interest gives Arsenal a chance to trim his £150,000-per-week wages off their already-large wage bill.