Romano reveals one Arsenal deal is already ‘done’; Gunners man ‘banned’ from playing after paperwork ‘disaster’ | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta claps the fans at the end of a Premier League match.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano insists Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu is “100% extending his contract” as he brings updates on other deals.

The Gunners are having another good season under Mikel Arteta with the north Londoners well placed to mount a challenge for both the Premier League and Champions League.

Declan Rice, Jurrien Timber and Kai Havertz arrived in the summer as they attempted to build on their second-placed finish behind champions Manchester City.

They are again in the title race with Arsenal currently two points behind leaders Liverpool, and now Arteta and sporting director Edu are concentrating on renewing the contracts of key players.

Romano has confirmed that a deal has been agreed with Tomiyasu, despite the lack of an official announcement, while talks over a new contract with Ben White are “advanced”.

The Italian journalist wrote in his Caught Offside column: “From what I’m hearing, Takehiro Tomiyasu’s new contract with Arsenal is done. He’s 100% extending his contract with Arsenal, so it’s just about finding the right moment to sign the contract and make an announcement, but it’s done.

“It’s an important deal for Arsenal as well because important Italian clubs showed an interest in Tomiyasu in January. He was excellent at Bologna before Arsenal signed him, so there was interest from Serie A, but from Mikel Arteta it was a straight “no” because he’s very happy with him.

“For Ben White’s contract, it’s not done yet but it’s very advanced. Talks have gone well since October, the player is happy at Arsenal, so it’s just a matter of weeks or maybe months and then it will be complete.”

One player who could struggle to play for the rest of this season is Arsenal loanee Omar Rekik after a huge paperwork blunder at Swiss side Servette.

20 Minuten claims that ‘disaster’ has struck at the club with ‘three of the four [January] reinforcements are now banned from playing’ for Servette this season, including young Arsenal centre-back Rekik.

The report explains:

Servette ‘will go to the transfer committee’ in an attempt to get the trio registered but there is ‘no reason to be optimistic’ that any of them will be able to play before the end of the campaign.