Ruiz Arsenal, Sancho PSG, Nketiah Marseille

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Fabian Ruiz has been linked as a target for Arsenal and I think his situation is an interesting one to watch this summer. He obviously had a really good tournament with Spain at Euro 2024 and ended up with a winners’ medal, while he’s also generally been considered an important player by Luis Enrique at PSG.

Still, it would not be accurate to say that his time in Paris has gone entirely smoothly – there have been times when he’s failed to impose himself on the midfield, which followed a bit of a drop-off in form towards the end of his time at Napoli. I think this is an illustration of what Ruiz can do at his best, but he’s not always been at that level for PSG.

In terms of what happens next, and in terms of the interest from Arsenal and other clubs who’ve sat up and taken notice after his very convincing performances with Spain. I think a move would depend on what kind of offer is put on the table to PSG. We know Joao Neves is expected to come in shortly, while Renato Sanches will most likely be moving out, and Xavi Simons’ future also seems to lie at least for the coming season in Leipzig, though we’ll see what happens long-term with that.

So that’s a few names going out, but there’s also Gabriel Moscardo, and the assumption is that PSG’s starting midfield three will be Warren Zaire-Emery, Vitinha and one other player. So if you factor Ruiz in to a five-man rotation, there’s definitely still room for him in Paris and I think Enrique will be happy with how he performed with Spain and be hopeful that he can get Ruiz back into that kind of form in the season ahead.

PSG will probably wait and see if there is any offer put forward to the club and then move from there, but I don’t think there’s any real pressure to move Ruiz on. There might have been a time about a year ago, before Enrique came in, when it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that Ruiz would be a long-term fixture at PSG, but now I think his recent improvement in form and the fact that young players like Moscardo and Neves might need a bit of time to bed in might mean there is a need for someone like Ruiz.

As previously reported, Manuel Ugarte is another player who could be expected to move on, so…