Mikel Arteta needed another winger. On Thursday night in Thessaloniki, Christos Tzolis limped off after 18 minutes of Greece’s 2-2 Nations League draw with the Netherlands, a suspected hamstring injury that is expected to send the summer signing back to north London for scans.
Within days the next name on Arsenal’s shortlist was in print. A €40 million opening offer for Antonio Nusa is being prepared, The Hard Tackle has reported, with the 21-year-old Norwegian winger considered the name Arteta would most like to turn to.
The problem is the queue. Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Newcastle United are all monitoring Nusa, and the interest stretches well beyond England to Roma, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus and Napoli in Italy and Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid elsewhere in Europe.
Leipzig’s number is nearly double
The gap in valuation is wide. Leipzig want between €60 million and €65 million before they consider a sale, roughly €20-25 million above Arsenal’s opening figure. The club has made clear it has no interest in losing a player under contract until June 2029 in the middle of the season.
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Nusa himself is reportedly not pushing for a move. He has started this Bundesliga season with three goals and two assists in six appearances and only arrived from Club Brugge for a reported €21 million in 2024.
A World Cup shop window
The reason the bidding has reached this level is the summer. Nusa was one of the breakout performers of Norway’s 2026 World Cup run, which ended in the quarter-finals against England after Erling Haaland’s late goals had knocked out Brazil in the round of 16.
“He’s played very, very well for us over the last 10 to 12 games, better than at Leipzig,” his coach Ståle Solbakken said of Nusa.
Across 77 appearances at Leipzig since arriving from Belgium, Nusa has 13 goals and 13 assists. The numbers go some way to explaining the interest; they do not on their own argue for a €65 million price tag.
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For Arsenal the squad maths is more immediate. Leandro Trossard left for Beşiktaş over the summer, Gabriel Martinelli followed in September when Al-Hilal paid a club-record £60 million, and Tzolis is now hurt. The January transfer window opens on 1 January 2027, and Leipzig’s current position is that any serious conversation about Nusa will have to wait until the summer.
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