Arsenal are seemingly continuing to scour the market for lesser known young talents as they’ve been paired with a raid on Barcelona, according to reports.
The Gunners are of course without a manager as Arsene Wenger is still in the process of winding down his contract ahead of his confirmed exit this summer, as per BBC Sport.
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In turn, should any new signings arrive before a successor is appointed, that would suggest that the hierarchy are already working on strengthening the squad by bringing in new faces in the coming weeks.
That seems to be the case for Barcelona teenager Joel Lopez, as Goal.com report that Arsenal are set to land the talented youngster, with head of football relations Raul Sanllehi specifically credited with a role in convincing the teenager to move to north London.
Further, the report does seem to stem from the tweet below from Spanish journalist Gerard Romero, who adds that the fee is likely to be minimal for the Gunners.
?? Joel López, lateral esquerra del Cadet A del Barça, cerca de cerrar acuerdo con el Arsenal. Los gunners tendrán que pagar derechos de formación #FCBMasia #mercato pic.twitter.com/gDbkLriCxj
— Gerard Romero (@gerardromero) May 22, 2018
Should a deal be completed, it would be another young player plucked from relative obscurity, following on from the signing of Konstantinos Mavropanos from PAS Giannina in January, as noted by Sky Sports.
Whether that is part of the new strategy with the new infrastructure in place, most notably head of recruitment Sven Mislintat who built a great reputation at Borussia Dortmund for his eye for talented young players, or just part of a bigger plan, remains to be seen.
With BBC Sport reporting that Unai Emery is now expected to be the man to fill the void left behind by Wenger, time will tell if he gets a say in transfer matters should he be officially appointed.