Arsenal are set to announce their first signing of the summer transfer window.
The Gunners have been tipped to be busy ahead of the new season as Mikel Arteta looks to overhaul a squad that finished eighth in the Premier League, which means no European football for next term.
Despite that, a number of names have been linked with moves to the Emirates Stadium from Max Aarons to Manchester City pair Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez.
However, Arsenal‘s first summer deal won’t cost them a single penny as The Sun have reported that Mat Ryan is set to complete a free transfer from Brighton and Hove Albion.
This comes after the Australia international enjoyed a successful six-month loan spell in north London where he made three appearances and kept one clean sheet.
In addition, the report states that Ryan is only seen as the back-up goalkeeper and that the Gunners may still be on the lookout for a new No.1 with Bernd Leno’s future uncertain.
Having been linked with Brentford’s David Raya for over a year, Arsenal have been forced to end plans to sign the goalkeeper following the west London outfit’s promotion to the Premier League.
Reports claim that the 25-year-old had a £10million release clause in his contract in the event of Brentford failing to secure promotion this year.
But their 2-0 win over Swansea City in Saturday’s play-off final means Raya won’t be leaving on the cheap.
With that said, a deal for Ryan would see Arsenal technical director Edu complete the first of five transfer missions.
As previously reported by football.london, the Gunners will be in the market to sign players in at least five positions this summer and that included a goalkeeper, a left-back and a central midfielder.
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Meanwhile, Ryan has already revealed he would like a return to Arsenal.
“I’ve got full faith in the team around me – my agent, family, friends – that we’re going to get a couple of options hopefully and go about making what’s going to be the best decision for me,” he told Fox Sports.
“Hopefully, Arsenal becomes one of those options as well that we can look at and see what can happen there, but at the minute it’s still quite early. The season’s just finished.
“I’m taking it day by day and seeing where my journey takes me.”