Mosquera joins Arsenal’s preseason tour as Gyokeres’ deal still dangles

Cristhian Mosquera will be travelling from London, where he had his medicals, to join Arsenal in Singapore ahead of the preseason tour, Softfootball can report.

Arsenal was able to complete Mosquera’s deal last weekend, but there have been compounding complications as regards Viktor Gyokeres, whose club is still adamant in giving a green light to the Swedish international’s stance.

Gyokeres has maintained his stance to join Arsenal despite different “sweet-talks” proposed by the club.  As reported by The Athletic correspondent Guillermo Rai and shared on Gunnerblog X handle, the player’s latest movement was to join his new teammates. 

He wrote; 

“🚨✈️ Cristhian Mosquera flying to Singapore to join Arsenal’s tour squad.

21-year-old spent recent days finalising his move to #AFC, which will be confirmed soon. Now travelling to join Arteta’s touring party.”

Softfootball had earlier reported on July 14 that Arsenal were working to complete a deal for the centre-back, with negotiations advanced and personal terms already in place with the player.

Mosquera’s move was not finalised in time to join Arsenal on their flight to Asia on Saturday, but the 21-year-old has now been given the green light to link up with the rest of the squad and took a flight from Heathrow to Singapore on Tuesday morning.

The Gunners will face AC Milan at the Singapore National Stadium on Wednesday before playing Premier League rivals Newcastle United at the same venue four days later. They wrap up their pre-season trip to the Far East with a north London derby against Tottenham Hotspur in Hong Kong on July 31.

Arsenal has been considering a strong defensive backup for the duo of William Saliba and Gabriel, who have been considered the most consistent for the club in recent times. Both played 51 and 42 games, respectively, last season.

A product of Valencia’s academy, Mosquera made his senior debut for the side in January 2022, aged 17. He spent time alternating between the senior team’s bench and the club’s reserve side before breaking through in the 2023-24 season, becoming a regular starter and appearing in 38 games in all competitions.

Mosquera has made 90 appearances for Valencia in total, scoring once. He has been capped up to the under-21 level by Spain and was part of the team that won the gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.