Edu faces fresh transfer challenge as Arsenal close in on double Man City coup

Arsenal are on the brink of completing their second transfer raid on Manchester City with Oleksandr Zinchenko poised to follow Gabriel Jesus in making the jump to the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners have made major moves in the transfer window in a bid to help Mikel Arteta take the club to the next level. The Spaniard spent big last summer on an influx of young, hungry talent - but he was unable to end Arsenal's multi-year exile from the Champions League.

Already though, Arsenal have bolstered their squad with no expense spared in a bid to go one better this year. And after two consecutive years of lavish summer spending sprees, the onus is on Edu to start shifting some of the Gunners deadwood; something that Arteta alluded to in his comments after Arsenal's 3-1 win over Orlando City.

Arteta said: "I don't know. It's what we have today. We have a large squad, so we have to make some decisions as well on the players that we're not going to be using consistently and be fair and straight with them and that's a process that is going to start very soon as well. We have a big squad and now we have to make things happen."

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While Edu has been the mastermind behind some impressive deals over the past 12 months for Arsenal - and played a crucial role in persuading Jesus to commit to the Emirates project - the Gunners technical director has struggled to raise additional funds in the transfer market.

The Brazilian did managed to rake in £25million for Joe Willock last season, but he was the only Arsenal player who left the club for a fee. Furthermore, established first team players such as Callum Chambers, Willian and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all departed the