Arsenal Pursues Nusa to Reinforce Left Flank
Arsenal’s summer rebuild in attack is gathering pace, and Mikel Arteta has fixed his gaze firmly on the left flank.
Leandro Trossard has gone, Gabriel Martinelli stands alone as the only proven natural option on that side, and the Premier League champions are moving. Fast.
Arsenal join Liverpool in race for Nusa
Antonio Nusa is the latest name pushed to the top of Arsenal’s list. Not a fringe idea, not a speculative enquiry – a concrete move is being lined up.
According to emerging reports, Arsenal are preparing an opening bid of around €40 million (£34 million) for the RB Leipzig winger, who lit up the 2026 World Cup. The Norway international helped drive his country to the quarter-finals and stamped his tournament with a brilliant solo goal against Ivory Coast, the kind of moment that turns heads in recruitment meetings across Europe.
Those performances have done exactly that. Nusa is now a man in demand, and Arsenal are not alone.
Liverpool have tracked him closely and view him as a more attainable option than Yan Diomande after their move for Diomande’s Leipzig teammate fell apart. For them, Nusa represents value and upside. For Arsenal, he represents something more urgent: a potential solution to a glaring hole in Arteta’s squad.
The problem? Price.
Leipzig are understood to value the 21-year-old closer to €60 million (£52 million). That gap between what Arsenal want to pay and what Leipzig expect will define the next phase of this pursuit. It is the sort of negotiation that can drag, especially with Liverpool lurking in the background, ready to pounce if the numbers fall into their range.
Life after Trossard: a left flank in need
Trossard’s move to Besiktas has done more than free up a squad place. It has stripped Arsenal of experience and variety on the left, leaving Martinelli as the only established, natural winger on that side.
Arteta cannot go into a title defence and another Champions League campaign with that level of risk. One injury, one dip in form, and the balance of his front line tilts.
Nusa offers a different profile to what Arsenal already have. He is all sharp edges and sudden bursts: explosive acceleration, fearless dribbling, a winger who relishes isolating defenders and going at them one-on-one. At 21, he is still raw, still mouldable, but the tools are obvious. He would not arrive as a finished article, but as a livewire option capable of changing the tempo of a game in a few strides.
That is exactly the sort of unpredictability Arsenal have sometimes lacked when Plan A starts to stall.
Why Nusa doesn’t end the Morgan Rogers chase
Even if Arsenal do land Nusa, the recruitment drive on that flank should not stop there.
Morgan Rogers remains firmly in their sights. The Aston Villa attacker brings something Nusa cannot yet offer: Premier League minutes, Premier League scars, and a broader positional range. Rogers can work from the left or slot centrally behind the striker, giving Arteta more ways to shuffle his attacking deck without weakening the side.
The contrast is clear. Rogers looks ready to step straight into the first XI and raise its level. Nusa looks like a high-ceiling project who can push Martinelli, learn, and grow into one of Europe’s most dangerous wide forwards.
In an ideal scenario for Arsenal, this is not an either/or decision. It is both.
Rogers to sharpen the here and now. Nusa to power the next few years.
Depth for a title defence
Arteta knows what awaits. A title defence, deep cup runs, the strain of midweek Champions League nights followed by high-intensity league fixtures. The margin for error shrinks, and so does the room for a thin squad.
Two high-quality, left-sided attackers would transform Arsenal’s options. They would allow Arteta to rotate without fear, to rest Martinelli without losing thrust, to adjust shape without sacrificing threat.
Liverpool’s interest in Nusa ensures this chase will not be straightforward. Leipzig’s valuation guarantees it will not be cheap.
But Arsenal have made their move. The champions need pace, invention and depth on that left flank. Whether it is Nusa, Rogers, or both, the next few weeks will reveal just how serious they are about defending their crown with an attack built to last the distance.
