Arsenal have wrapped-up the signing of Runar Alex Runarsson from Dijon after the goalkeeper undertook his medical in London late last week, according to Evening Standard journalist Simon Collings.
Mikel Arteta is in the market for a new goalkeeper after Emiliano Martinez completed a move to Aston Villa last week with the Argentinean stopper deciding to end his long association with Arsenal in order to seek regular first team football.
Runarsson emerged as a surprise candidate to replace Martinez and the Telegraph claimed last week that the 25-year-old keeper had travelled to north London to undergo his medical after a £1.5m deal was agreed with Dijon for his signature.
It seems the formalities have now been concluded as Evening Standard journalist Simon Collings has claimed that Arsenal have now ‘wrapped up’ the deal to sign Runarsson after he completed his medical late last week.
At the time of writing, there has been no official confirmation from Arsenal but Collings says there is an outside chance Runarsson could be announced in time to feature against Leicester City in the League Cup on Wednesday night.
The journalist claimed on Twitter:
#afc As reported by others, Runarsson arrived at Arsenal back end of last week for medical. The deal is now all wrapped up. Understand there is an outside chance he could feature against Leicester City on Wednesday.
— Simon Collings (@sr_collings) September 21, 2020
So it looks as though Arsenal are set to unveil their sixth signing of the summer with Runarsson following Willian, Gabriel, Dani Ceballos [loan], Cedric Soares [permanent deal] and Pabli Mari [permanent deal] in completing moves to the Emirates.
The Icelandic stopper was recommended to Arteta by goalkeeping coach Inaki Cana – who worked with Runarsson during their time together at Nordsjaelland – and Arsenal moved quickly to get a deal done.
Runarsson only made 11 first team appearances for Dijon last season and the last of his five caps for Iceland came back in 2018 so he doesn’t have a lot of experience playing at the top level in Europe.
That may be a concern to some Arsenal fans as it would be a huge risk if Runarsson had to deputise for a prolonged period should number one Bernd Leno get injured again this season.
However, the Evening Standard suggests that Arteta is still looking to sign another more experienced goalkeeper before the window closes. Brentford’s David Raya is firmly on his radar so he’s likely to act as Leno’s back-up if Arsenal could get a deal agreed.
That would leave Runarsson as Arsenal’s number three and he’d be a replacement for Matt Macey – who’s being linked with a move away from the north Londoners this summer.
