There’s one reason why Newcastle may refuse to sell players to Arsenal, and it’s resulted in the Gunners abandoning their pursuit of a top target.

Arsenal will strengthen this summer after Mikel Arteta’s side were pipped to the Premier League title by Manchester City last season.

The Gunners have brought in Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna in a deal worth £42 million
while negotiations with Real Sociedad for the transfer of midfielder Mikel Merino are ongoing.

Arteta also wants a new attacker, after neither Gabriel Jesus or Kai Havertz convinced up front last season.

With Arsenal earning at least £27m in pure profit from the sale of academy graduate Emile Smith-Rowe to Fulham and with Eddie Nketiah also likely to leave, there should be a decent budget available for a striker.

Unfortunately for Arsenal,
they have had to abandon their interest in the 24-year-old as it looks like the Magpies will not do any business with them.

According to The Independent’s chief football writer Miguel Delaney, there has been tension between the two clubs’ hierarchies due to Arsenal’s attitude towards state-owned clubs.

Some Arsenal executives “have been at the forefront of moves within the Premier League to restrict the potential financial power of Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City and Saudi Arabian-owned Newcastle.”

That has led to colder relationships at boardroom level, making negotiations over potential transfers much more difficult.

In May The Independent reported that Arsenal did not want to get into a draw-out saga and would move on from Isak if it looked like that would be the case.

Arteta is exploring other options, including Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyokeres. Ivan Toney was under consideration but Brentford’s £100m asking price put the brakes on any kind of pursuit.

Arsenal fans have spotted how two players reacted to Riccardo Calafiori welcome speech

On Monday Arsenal completed the signing of Riccardo Calafiori from Serie A side Bologna for a fee of up to £42 million including add-ons.

The Italian defender penned a five-year contract after the two clubs reached an agreement after weeks of talks.

The 22-year-old is a versatile player, capable playing at centre-back, left-back, defensive midfield and even left-wing.

Arsenal had the best defence in the Premier League last season, conceding just 29 goals, but now have an even stronger backline.

Mikel Arteta now has two players in each defensive position, but that of course means that some are going to find themselves on the bench more often than they would like.

The arrival of Calafiori could be bad news for Jurrien Timber and Jakub Kiwior, both of whom are hoping to start either in central defence or left-back.

Both had difficult 2023-24 campaigns; Timber missed most of the season after suffering a torn ACL on his club debut, while Kiwior struggled for minutes ahead of Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Upon signing for Arsenal Calafiori flew straight to the United States to join the club’s pre-season tour.

Arsenal published to their YouTube channel footage of Arteta introducing Calafiori to the squad, with the Italian giving a short speech and receiving a round of applause from his teammates.

Fans noticed Timber’s reaction, as he shot the new recruit a look after applauding him.

Kiwior smiled as he entered the room and high-fived a coach, but one fan commented: “Does he know?”

Another fan wrote: “Look at Timber,” prompting another to reply: “Thought I was the only one who saw it, he knows, competition just gets stiffer.”

Arsenal will face Liverpool, Bayer Leverkusen and Lyon in friendlies before kicking off their Premier League campaign against Wolves on August 17.