Sunday 21 July 2019 14:03, UK
Unai Emery insists he is remaining patient as he bids to add up to four players to his Arsenal squad this summer.
Despite ending last season empty-handed and missing out on Champions League qualification for the third successive season, the Gunners have only signed 18-year-old winger Gabriel Martinelli during this window.
However, Sky Sports News understands they have agreed a deal to sign teenage defender William Saliba from Saint-Etienne and are waiting for Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane to approve a loan deal for midfielder Dani Ceballos.
Arsenal have also seen both a £25m bid for Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney and a £40m offer for Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha rejected, but Emery says he is calm as the August 8 deadline edges closer.
"Really I am with patience because we want to choose the best solution," he said. "Some players are very expensive and we are waiting for this possibility.
"We don't want now to go to the second line of players. We are waiting. We have very good players. We have very good young players. We are aware also that we need to improve some players in this squad.
"I want to sign one, two, three or four players only if we can be sure they are coming to improve our team."
Emery was speaking after Arsenal beat Fiorentina 3-0 in the International Champions Cup on Saturday night to record their third consecutive win in pre-season.
He says he is working closely with new sporting director Edu and head of football Raul Sanllehi as they look to make new signings.
"There are a lot of names. The club is working, Edu is very close to me and Raul. We speak every day," Emery said.
One player who looks set to remain at The Emirates next season is Eddie Nketiah, who scored twice against the Italians in Charlotte.
"Nketiah was playing very well last year," Emery said of the 20-year-old striker.
"In December, we were thinking of loaning or not loaning the player to Germany and we decided he should stay with us to train and progress with us.
"We started this pre-season with the same idea as we finished last year. He'll stay with us and my idea is that if you progress like we are seeing from you, you can have a chance with us."
