After a snail-pace start to the summer transfer window, things are starting to move apace for Arsenal, whose first-team squad is shaping up ahead of pre-season.

Mikel Arteta and Andrea Berta are working hard to identify and sign a new centre-forward, but there are variables at play, and we must wait for concrete advancements over the coming weeks.

Sporting Lisbon's Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko, who has emerged as a top talent at RB Leipzig, appear to be the biggest priorities, having been earmarked and tracked for several months now.

The Gunners have a longer-standing interest in Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, but Isak is the cream of the striker crop, and he's been priced at an exorbitant £200m.

Berta may yet turn to a left-field option. Indeed, interest in Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins has been revisited.

The latest on Ollie Watkins to Arsenal

Watkins is a long-time target at the Emirates, with a £40m bid even being tabled for the Aston Villa striker back in January, but for Unai Emery's side to emphatically reject it.

Arsenal fans might want a striker with a bit more panache and fanfare surrounding their name, but the England international, 29, is proven in the Premier League and dynamic in his performances, both prolific and creative.

Furthermore, he's been the focus of extensive profiling by the Gunners data analysts, also hailed by podcaster Rohan Jivan as "one of the best CFs in Europe".

What, then, is Arteta to do? Watkins is valued at £60m, which puts him in a similar bracket to Gyokeres; Sesko would cost more, and Isak is indeed more expensive still.

Having scored 35 goals and supplied 23 assists across the past two Premier League seasons, it's clear that Arsenal would bag themselves an upgrade in number nine with this man.

However, for all Watkins' quality, and the shrewdness that his signing would be laced with, Arsenal are also targeting another forward who would represent a far more exciting deal, even though he's not really a number nine.

Arsenal ready to pay for superstar

According to Spanish publication AS, Arsenal are ready to pay a significant figure to sign Real Madrid forward Rodrygo, who has started the Xabi Alonso era on the backbenches.

The Spanish giants would be open to cashing in on the 24-year-old this summer, and AS claim that Arsenal could secure his signature with a bid worth €90m (£77m).

With contacts between Arsenal and the player's entourage having taken place since the end of the 2024/25 season, there's a real feeling that developments could soon take place, should Rodrygo continue to drift on the periphery with Los Blancos.

Why Arsenal want Rodrygo

Hailed as a "world-class superstar" by Luka Modric, Rodrygo is one of the most talented players in the world but has been routinely ferried over to the right flank to accommodate the likes of Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe.

At Arsenal, he would have no such issues. Bukayo Saka holds down the fort quite well in that area, and with Gabriel Martinelli's future up in the air, Rodrygo could prove a stunning upgrade.

Remarkably, the Brazil international far outstrips his performances on the right when fielded as a left winger. The issue, of course, is that his opportunities in his favoured position have been few and far between.

His fascinating blend of creative quality, link-up play, and indeed a natural eye for goal, make the £207k-per-week winger the perfect player to slot in alongside Saka, with such remarkable talent sure to leave fans more excited than a deal for Watkins, as crucial as bringing such a striker in may be.

Indeed, while Rodrygo only scored six times in La Liga last season, he missed just one big chance, as per Sofascore. It was hardly a year which demonstrated the full scope of his skill set, but it did succeed in showing a deep-rooted aptitude in the final third.

Arsenal need this. They need goals across the park, not just from a centre-forward such as Watkins. Moreover, they need a player like Rodrygo who can balance his contribution. And as per FBref, the South American star ranked among the top 2% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe's top five leagues in 2024/25 for pass completion, the top 14% for progressive carries and the top 20% for successful take-ons per 90.

Thus, we have a forward who could dynamise Arteta's frontline, promoting possession-focused control and driving play forward himself.

If Arsenal are to raise their level next season and bring home some silverware, they need not just the goalscoring quality that someone like Watkins would bring but also the big-game ability of a serial winner such as Rodrygo.

His Champions League record speaks for itself, more still his rise at perhaps football's most gargantuan outfit in Real Madrid.

Watkins, as discussed earlier, is more than just a goalscorer. Mobile and rounded, he ranked among the top 3% of forwards across Europe's top five leagues last term for assists per 90. Given Rodrygo's prevailing clinical edge, you can only imagine the kind of partnership which could be struck.

But such a duo would be charged by Rodrygo's skills, his passion and capacity to become one of the best wingers in the Premier League.

Sure, Watkins is talented, and has big-game experience of his own, but could anyone honestly say he matches Rodrygo, a true 'superstar' indeed who would lead Arsenal to heights previously unimaginable.

And that, naturally, is without even imagining how Saka's world-class talents could elevate both players, and vice versa.

Arsenal are on the verge of making a flurry of brilliant signings which truly could bring Arteta's project into a new sphere, one geared for an abundance of silverware that is befitting his elite-class unit.

Watkins would provide the Londoners with the focal presence they crave, but in Rodrygo, Arsenal would land a player capable of laying down the gauntlet against any of the finest players across the globe.