Berta in talks with Williams’ agent

Although Andrea Berta was only confirmed as Arsenal’s Sporting Director earlier this week, the Italian has wasted no time in getting down to work.

He has begun talk with representatives of Neco Williams about a summer transfer to the Emirates, leveraging his La Liga connections.

Williams has been on the Arsenal radar for some time – Mikel Arteta is believed to be a big admirer – but with the need to strengthen their wide attacking options, the Athletic Bilbao player has been identified as the preferred option.

The fact that he has a release clause of ₤50 million also means that he is attainable, although his current weekly wage of ₤200,000 would make him one of the highest earners at the Emirates, although the Arsenal hierarchy will want to be careful not to upset the dressing room by overpaying the 22-year old.

And the fact that he is unproven in the Premier League also means that any move for him is not without risk,

Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.