Why Arsenal are so interested in the Champions League qualifying rounds amid transfer mission

Arsenal will be keeping a close eye on this fornight's UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds

Premier League champions Arsenal have not needed to take part in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League for more than a decade. The last time was in 2014 when an Alexis Sanchez goal earned the Gunners a place in the group stage, knocking out Turkish side Besiktas 1-0 on aggregate.

It used to be that the team that finished fourth, as Arsenal so often did, in the Premier League would enter the final qualifying round for the UEFA Champions League. Since then, however, UEFA rules have changed, and now the top five positions in the English top flight grant direct access to the revamped league phase.

For Arsenal, typically, the qualifying rounds would have no bearing on their summer. However, with the games being played in July and August, there is a crossover with the transfer market.

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Arsenal will be keenly interested in one or more games concerning one specific club, Iberia 1999. The World Cup has taken all the attention away from any club action going on, but the Georgian side Iberia 1999 will face the Estonian club Flora in the first qualifying round, with the first leg taking place on Wednesday, July 8.

Win that, and they will be the unseeded side in Group 2 of the second qualifying round. There, they will face the Serbian side Slovan Bratislava, and if successful, they will become a seeded side in the draw for the third qualifying round.

Finally, winning the third qualifying round enters the club into the play-off. Win that, and you’re an official part of next season’s UEFA Champions League… simple enough?

But the reason Arsenal have such a keen eye on Iberia 1999’s progression is because of one of their young players, Andria Bartishvili. football.london understands that the Gunners are very keen on the 17-year-old Georgian who is on loan from Kolkheti Poti.

With his contract soon to expire at the end of the year and no renewal agreed, clubs are able to secure a pre-contract agreement with the player to join when their current deal ends. Liverpool and French side Paris FC are also keen on the player.

However, suggestions are the attacking midfielder wants to finish his responsibilities in the Champions League qualification clashes before making a call on his future. Andrea Berta’s new head of scouting, Maurizio Micheli, has a history of spotting top Georgian talent, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, and could be onto another, but only if Arsenal succeed where they failed most recently with Jeremy Monga and Emmanuel Mbemba.

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