Better than Tonali & Guimaraes: Arsenal ready official bid to sign £100m star

Arsenal have gone from strength to strength across Mikel Arteta‘s time at the helm, but the Premier League champions believe they have several levels still to reach under the Spaniard’s wing.

Since finishing eighth in 2020/21, Arteta’s first full season at the helm, the Gunners have indeed cemented themselves as champions, one of the most consistent challengers in modern times.

Now, they need to reinforce this position of strength, with the agonising penalty-shootout defeat against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final the whisker-thin gap from immortality.

Arteta is determined to fuel his players with the desire to go one better and reach even loftier heights next year, but Arsenal need signings to make that happen, with all the transfer discourse coming from midfield at the moment.

The latest on Arsenal’s bid to sign midfielders

Arsenal finished the 2025/26 campaign with the knowledge that they need to improve in attack. There is the formula to creating an even more potent solution that will fuel the coming years of title challenges.

However, Arteta and Emirates technical director Andrea Berta also believe that the midfield needs work, with an approach already made to the representatives of Newcastle United duo Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes.

A £60m proposal has already been knocked back for Magpies skipper Guimaraes, and while these signings are interesting, Arsenal are also considering a more attack-focused Premier League midfielder who could end up taking the cake as the Londoners’ star summer signing.

According to Football Insider, Arsenal are preparing to bid for Aston Villa playmaker Morgan Rogers, who is emerging as a top target for the Premier League champions this summer.

Villa are expected to demand more than £100m for their focal attacker, intimating to suitors that they are not willing to part with him for any price.

But Rogers, out over the pond with Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions, wants to leave Villa Park this summer, and north London does indeed look like the likely destination for one of the Premier League’s biggest stars.

Why Morgan Rogers can be Arsenal’s star summer signing

Rogers, 23, has been a catalyst for Unai Emery’s Villan side over the past several years, developing into a superstar after completing a transfer from Championship side Middlesbrough in February 2024, worth £8m plus add-ons.

A clinical marksman and intelligent athlete, Rogers boasts a unique profile that would see him create a new dimension to Arsenal’s attack, bringing a different flavour than the likes of Eberechi Eze and Martin Odegaard have produced.

Since the beginning of the 2024/25 campaign, Rogers has scored 28 goals and supplied 28 assists across all competitions for Aston Villa, leaving no doubt in retired star Robbie Mustoe’s mind that he is “one of the best midfielders in the world“.

He has been a monstrous addition to Villa’s line-up, exceptional across his two full seasons in the Premier League.

While Guimaraes and Tonali are both elite players, sure to add much to the Arsenal engine room, it could be argued that Arteta has already created one of the most stable, organised and efficient outfits on the continent, leaving something to be desired only in attacking areas.

Rogers, therefore, could be the offensive conduit that the north London side need to truly cement themselves as one of the finest teams of their generation. Could Guimaraes, who turns 30 in 2027, make the same impact, with Rice already at the beating heart of the system? Is Tonali, the elegant Italian, effective enough in attack to enjoy the kind of impact that Rogers could instil across Arsenal’s frontline?

Last season, Arsenal lacked a truly progressive presence in the middle of the park. Someone dynamic and artful alongside Rice. Tonali and Guimaraes would pack the punch that Arsenal are after, but in Rogers, Arteta may well sign himself an even better fit.