Arsenal turn down chance to sign £21m man in final week of the transfer window

Arsenal and Mikel Arteta have turned down the opportunity to turn down Galatasaray defender Victor Nelsson as they look to add more depth to their defence in the final week of the transfer window, it has been reported.

Injury to Jurrien Timber which is set to rule him out for the season has left Arsenal needing another defender, with left-back Kieran Tierney having joined Real Sociedad on loan over the weekend and no natural left-back in their squad as it stands.

As per the Express, ‘Arsenal were recently offered the chance to sign Nelsson during exploratory transfer talks’, with the defender having a £21m release clause in his contract in Turkey.

However, they have turned down the opportunity to do so, and ‘upon learning the terms of the deal, the Gunners decided against pushing ahead with the late-summer swoop’.

It is added that the Gunners are ‘looking at alternatives’ having previously been linked to RB Leipzig defender Mohamed Simakan and Galatasaray’s Sacha Boey earlier in the transfer window before they eventually opted to sign Timber.

It remains to be seen how much Arsenal will have left to spend, having already splashed out in excess of £200m on Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, Timber and David Raya and having only managed five senior sales so far this summer totalling £50m.

Mikel Arteta’s side are expected to be busy ahead of Friday’s transfer deadline, with the likes of Rob Holding, Nuno Tavares, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Nicolas Pepe and Folarin Balogun all expected to leave the club and at least one more addition to come in.

Balogun is on the verge of joining AS Monaco, netting the Gunners some much needed funds, while Rob Holding and Nuno Tavares both drawing interest from Premier League clubs in the final days of the window.

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