Arsenal agrees personal terms with Koné and wants to close the deal with Roma before July

Arsenal have agreed personal terms with Manu Koné and are racing against the clock to finalize the signing with Roma before the end of the month. The French midfielder is Mikel Arteta’s main target for the middle of the park in this summer market – and, by all indications, the player genuinely wants to cross the English Channel.

Why Arsenal, and not the Champions League rivals

Atlético Madrid and Inter Milan monitored Koné closely for much of last season. But when Arsenal entered the race with a concrete proposal, the picture changed quickly. It is understood that the player has a clear preference for the Premier League – and for the Gunners’ project in particular.

The logic is not hard to grasp. Arsenal finished the season as English champions and were Champions League finalists. It is exactly the kind of environment Koné is looking for to take the next step in his career. At 23, the holding midfielder joined Roma in 2024 from Borussia Mönchengladbach and made the build-up from the first pass his hallmark in European football.

With the World Cup underway, the player’s camp does not intend to force any immediate resolution. But the foundations are in place.

The books Roma needs to balance

On the Italian side, the pressure is of a different nature. Roma are operating under a settlement agreement with UEFA and need to register significant accounting gains before June 30. Selling Koné would solve much of that problem in one move.

The Roman club is asking €50 million for the midfielder. Since the player’s residual value on Roma’s books sits around €12 million, the operation would generate a capital gain of roughly €38 million – exactly the kind of relief the club’s finance department needs to record in this window.

Borussia Dortmund and Aston Villa were mentioned as interested in Matias Soulé, another Roma asset who could fill that accounting role, but the Koné path looks more viable and more concrete.

What changes in both squads

Manager Gian Piero Gasperini, who took over Roma this season, has already signaled that he will release the player should the right offer arrive. With the proceeds from the sale, the club plans to bolster the attack: Mason Greenwood, who impressed on loan from Manchester United, is on the radar, as is Crysencio Summerville, the Dutch winger who shone at Leeds and West Ham.

To replace Koné in the Italian capital, the preferred name is Ismael Koné, of Sassuolo – no relation to the Frenchman, but with a similar profile: box-to-box, dynamic, aggressive in the press. Serie B was no obstacle to the Canadian appearing on bigger clubs’ radar, and Roma already have the name in hand.

At Arsenal, the arrival of Manu Koné would represent the definitive replacement for the gap left by Thomas Partey, released at the end of his contract, and would give more consistency to the midfield Arteta has been trying to balance between creativity and intensity. The deal is not signed yet. But rarely has an agreement come so close without being completed.