Arsenal transfer news LIVE: Thomas Partey, Houssem Aouar, Alexandre Lacazette and more - plus Premier League updates

Lionel Messi almost joined Arsenal in 2003 when former teammate and friend, Cesc Fabregas, made the move to London: 

Arsenal have been pursuing Houssem Aouar and Thomas Partey to bolster their midifeld but the prices of those two players have kept the Gunners hesitant.

Unless the Gunners offload some of their fringe players, Arteta won’t be able to raise funds to lure their top targets.

So, according to reports from Football London they have decided on a cheaper alternative in AS Roma’s Amadou Diawara.

The 23-year-old is a solid defensive midfielder and Roma are reportedly demanding a fee in the region of £27 million, considerably less than Aouar and Partey. 

Sheffield United are expected to make a second offer to Arsenal to sign Folarin Balogun according to Football London.

The initial bid of £3 million was rejected last week and with Arsenal wanting funds to buy other players they’ll want to get the best price possible out of the Blades.

Chris Wilder has been very vocal about his search for a striker and has been linked with Liverpool’s Rhian Brewster but Balogun could be a cheaper alternative.

Mikel Arteta is believed to be a fan of the young American forward but the time may be right for them to part ways as the teenager seeks regular first-team involvement, something he is likely to find at Bramall Lane.

The Gunners are reportedly open to offers for central defender Shkodran Mustafi according to German outlet Kicker.

The report says that Lazio and Napli are monitoring the 28-year-old in the hopes of bringing him back to Italy where he spent two years at Sampdoria. 

The World Cup winner has just one year left on his contract and Arsenal are hoping to recoup some of the money spent on his services over the years instead of allowing him to leave for nothing next summer. 

The Gunners reportedly value him at around £13.4 million bu the most difficult part of offloading players at Arsenal is their salary. 

Mustafi earns a reported £4m a year at Arsenal, while Lazio can 'only' offer him as much as £2.3m and he may not be receptive to a pay cut. 

Houssem Aouar has an asking price of £45 million and Arsenal desperately want to bring him into the club. 

But to do that, they need to fundraise and short of holding a bake sale outside of the Emirates that will come from player sales.

The Gunners need to raise more than the £20m they somehow got out of Aston Villa for Emiliano Martinez if they want to sign Aouar.

Funds will come in for the possible sales of Matteo Guendouzi or Lucas Torreira. Maybe Alexandre Lacazette or, more likely, they need Barcelona to follow through on their threat to take Hector Bellerin home.

As it stands though there’s very little movement on these fronts.

Gary Neville has praised the Arsenal manager for what he’s brought to the London club since being appointed in December 2019. 

The Gunners have won the FA Cup and Community Shield under Arteta and have started the new season winning both of their first two Premier League games.

Neville said: 

Arsenal midfielder Lucas Torreira could be the key to getting a Thomas Partey deal over the line for the Gunners.

The Daily Star are reporting that Arsenal are setting up ways to raise the £45 million needed to bring Partey to the Premier League. 

Sky Sports News have reported that because Lyon were not interested in taking Matteo Guendouzi in a deal involving Houssem Aouar, attentions have now turned to Partey and Torreira.

Torreira could either leave the club to join any other team as long as cash is offered upfront - or he could move to the Spanish capital in a deal that would make their target more affordable

The report adds that Atletico are already on the lookout for a potential alternative to the Ghana international - and they have not ruled out a deal that involves Torreira.

Arsenal completed the signing of goalkeeper Alex Runarsson on a four-year contract from French club Dijon yesterday.

The 25-year-old Iceland international joined the Ligue 1 club in July 2018 and made 13 appearances for them in all competitions last season.

Technical director Edu told the club's website: “We’re very pleased to welcome Alex to our squad. We have been monitoring him for some time and from the analysis, he has strong attributes that we look for in a goalkeeper and as a person.”

Arsenal boss, Mikel Arteta, added: “We want to create healthy competition for places and we look forward to seeing Alex bring further depth to the goalkeeping position.”

Runarsson started his career with KR Reykjavik in his home country. He went on to join FC Nordsjaelland in Denmark, where he made 62 appearances during a three-year spell, before moving to Dijon. 

Premier League fans will NOT return to stadiums on October 1 following a huge Covid-19 surge, Michael Gove has announced.

The Government revealed in August that they hoped to bring back live crowds at a limited capacity by the start of next month.

But the plans were placed under review this month after a rise in coronavirus cases.

The UK’s Covid-19 alert level has now moved to 4, meaning transmission is “high or rising exponentially”.

It blocks the Premier League’s hopes of having fans return to stadiums.

New measures will be set out by Prime Minister Boris Johnson later today. 

Alexandre Lacazette has less than two years left of his current contract and Arsenal are reportedly not willing to offer him a new deal.

The 29-year-old has scored in both games of this season’s Premier League campaign for the Gunners but he is seen as expendable.

Atletico Madrid have been linked with the Frenchman in a possible swap deal for midfielder Thomas Partey who the London club are keen to sign.

If that doesn’t materialise, Arsenal could sell Lacazette to raise the funds needed for Houssem Aouar who they have been chasing throughout the transfer window.