Arsenal have bid for Wolves goalkeeper Dan Bentley rejected

According to David Ornstein of the Athletic, Arsenal have had an official bid rejected by Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper Dan Bentley.

Simon Collings of the Evening Standard reports that this bid was just £50,000, which he describes as a ‘long way off’ Wolves’ valuation.

Bentley, who has one-year left on his contract at Molineux, will only be allowed to leave Wolverhampton Wanderers if they receive a fee that would allow them to reinvest in a replacement, which Arsenal’s current proposal certainly does not do.

Who is Dan Bentley?

Dan Bentley is a 30 year old goalkeeper, who was actually in Arsenal’s academy between the ages of eight and 15.

After being released, he joined Southend United, for whom he made his senior debut and 160 appearances overall, the penalty shootout hero as the Shrimpers defeated Wycombe Wanderers in the League Two play-off final at Wembley back in 2015.

He then spent three seasons at Brentford, playing 125 games for the Bees, before leaving for Bristol City in 2019, interestingly replaced by a certain David Raya in West London.

Lastly, he moved to current club Wolves in January 2023 to be back-up to José Sá, hence why he’s made only nine appearances for the Old Gold, albeit he has been largely impressive in these matches, making three saves and not conceding after coming off the bench away at Arsenal in December.

Why do Arsenal want to sign Dan Bentley?

Bentley’s time at Brentford could be key because, while there, he worked with current Arsenal goalkeeper coach Iñaki Caña, who appears to have quite a big say in recruitment.

Following Caña’s recommendation, Arsenal have signed both Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson and Raya during Mikel Arteta’s reign, with mixed success, both keepers Caña had worked with previously, so Bentley is seemingly set to continue this trend.

More importantly, the Gunners could be faced with a homegrown player issue; as noted by Jacob Whitehead of the Athletic, put simply, Premier League clubs are required to have at least eight homegrown players in their 25-man squad.

With Aaron Ramsdale, Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, Kieran Tierney and Reiss Nelson all potentially leaving the club, this would leave only Benjamin White, Bukayo Saka, Raya (as he spent two years in Blackburn’s academy) and Delcan Rice filling this quota, so signing an English back-up goalkeeper could be necessary.

A summer of change in the Arsenal goalkeeping department

Arsenal’s goalkeeping roster has already witnessed wholesale changes this summer, with academy keepers Arthur Okonkwo, James Hillson, Hubert Graczyk, Ovie Ejeheri and Noah Cooper all having been released, while Karl Hein has signed a new contract, set to feature prominently in early pre-season fixtures.

That’s because the Gunners’ two senior shot-stoppers are still currently involved in the European Championships, with David Raya making his major tournament debut for Spain during their 1-0 win over Albania in Düsseldorf during the group phase, while his loan from Brentford was offically made permanet for a fee of £27 million earlier this month.

Meantime, having made only six appearances since 3 September, Aaron Ramsdale will surely be on the move this summer, hence why they’re in the market for a new recruit.

Arsenal have also been linked with Justin Bijlow of Feyenoord, as reported by Sam Dean in the Telegraph, as well as Real Madrid’s Andriy Lunin, according to Chris Davie in the Metro, with many suggesting that Bentley would possibly be brought in to be number three, meaning another signing would have to be made.