Arsenal approach imminent Benjamin Sesko transfer deadline with £70m Andrea Berta reality clear

Sign up to the free Arsenal newsletter so you don't miss the latest Gunners news, straight to your inbox

Sign up to the free Arsenal newsletter so you don't miss the latest Gunners news, straight to your inbox

The summer transfer window is increasingly a series of dates, cut-offs, and waiting. This year, in particular, sections have been divided up even more due to the Club World Cup.

The window opened earlier than usual to allow teams involved in the newly formatted FIFA tournament time to complete deals, so therefore everyone got a chance to push things over the line. Then came the six-day break before the market was back for good, and back for two-and-a-half months of noise.

However, that is not the limit of matters. In recent years, June 30 has become a date of great importance in the footballing world. It separates accounting years for clubs as they finalise their figures.

Given the heightened scrutiny of finances in the wake of Everton and Nottingham Forest's 2023/24 points deductions, that June 30 deadline really has become vital. It is the last chance for clubs in England to try to balance their books.

In January 2024, just over one month after Everton were hit with a punishment for breaching the Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules (PSRs), there was almost no transfer activity as teams started to sweat. Ever since the league flexed its muscles, there as been much more public analysis of the numbers, how they are crunched, and why they matter.

Everyone now knows what amortisation is, why Chelsea handed out great long contracts, and the enhanced value of academy players when it comes to being saved last minute. In short, clubs need to ensure they do not make losses of more than £105million over any three-year rolling period.

Costs such as the academy, women's team, or foundation are deducted. This is basically a revenue-to-transfer and wage bill calculation.

So where do Arsenal come in? Well, they don't have any real concerns. They have spent big in the last few years but also have the lucrative Champions League football bonus, three second-place finishes with prize money, and recent sales to factor in.

Last summer alone they made more than £70million from selling Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, and Aaron Ramsdale. That offset the £85million and more that they spent on Mikel Merino, David Raya, and Riccardo Calafiori.

The year before it was Granit Xkaka and Folarin Balogun out. Although on both occasions there was a net loss, the books will account differently and Arsenal have been spending from a position of strength.

Their changed stature as one of Europe's elite clubs gives them more room to play with than, say, Chelsea or Manchester United who have been in and out of UEFA competitions whilst also buying with much less focus. It is notable that a lot of the PSR talk has died down.

There is not as much concern now as there was in January when the Premier League confirmed that nobody had fallen foul to legislation. That, for most, was a reward for late selling 12 months ago when a mad scramble before June 30, 2024 saw effective swap deals at inflated prices.

Arsenal are not in a rush to do their business on a financial standing and they don't appear to be on a sporting one either. Martin Zubimendi is all but done but there is still a delay to his announcement which is thought to be related to the accounting period he will be registered in.

If Arsenal wait until July 1 then he will go onto next year's books and ensure their compliance (which isn't in doubt) for 2024/25. We will find out in around six months if it was worth the added few weeks to see the first summer signing.

It also means that any striker transfer is likely to be held up until July as well. Arsenal are not yet close to a deal for either Benjamin Sesko or Viktor Gyokeres, with both still under consideration.

That has started to grate with supporters who are growing restless at the lack of progress seemingly being made. Arsenal have known about the need for a striker pretty much ever since they decided against buying one last summer.

In January that was magnified. In early February, when Kai Havertz went down, it started to look foolish, even with hindsight. The arrival of Andrea Berta as sporting director promised to cause a slight delay to things as he got up to speed with the job but is has been over two months since his appointment now and Arsenal's season was over partway through May.

That will be forgotten if Arsenal's new No.9 starts to fire in the goals but for now it is of growing frustration. In a summer of deadlines, June 30 is the next checkpoint and it comes just one week before the Arsenal players are due back for pre-season.

That is when things begin to speed up. The return back to initial training in north London is followed by flying out to Asia for matches. Before long, three or four weeks have passed and the Premier League is on the horizon again.

Lots can happen in that time, but Arsenal will be keen not to see their striker transfer - which has been heading in the direction of Sesko for a while, without any firm movement - drag on much beyond June 30. For different reasons this time, Arsenal will have the date at the forefront of their mind.

Click here to read article