Arsenal fans track planes and stalk trees for transfers as Tielemans becomes new target

The Gunners suffered a disappointing end to last season but look well placed to mount another charge following a strong start in the transfer market.

Arsenal narrowly missed out on a spot in the Champions League after Mikel Arteta's side were pipped to the post by rivals Tottenham.

But the north Londoners have seemingly had little issue convincing targets to move to the Emirates this summer.

Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira, Marquinhos and Matt Turner have all arrived so far with the former already notching his first goals in pre-season.

Yet part of the club's sales pitch will have come from Arsenal's legions of fans playing their part persuading prospective signings to join.

They are unstoppable on social media and do whatever it takes to find out the latest transfer information.

Here, talkSPORT.com looks at what it's like to be a Gooner during the transfer window…

House hunting

Not since Arsene Wenger unveiled the signing of Sol Campbell have Arsenal fans been unaware a player is about to join their club.

And part of that might have to do with tracking every step during a transfer starting from when a target puts their house up for sale.

Youri Tielemans has been linked with a move to Arsenal for months after the club's head of UK scouting James Ellis watched the midfielder in action several times last season.

Although the deal has taken longer than expected to be done, fans realised it may be nearing completion after Tielemans put his home in Leicester up for sale.

If supporters had any doubt that the property belonged to the Belgian, one person even took a virtual tour of the house looking for evidence…

Analysing Instagram

Social media is as much a vital tool for Arsenal fans as it is for Fabrizio Romano in keeping on top of transfers.

Back in late August 2020, supporters went to extreme lengths to prove Gabriel Magalhaes was about to sign for the club from French side Lille.

The defender uploaded a selfie on Instagram and eagled-eyed fans noted that the Brazilian was seated on the left but wasn't driving, meaning he was in the United Kingdom.

The interior car design was also one of a Mercedes V-Class - a vehicle new signings are transported in.

Even further than that, one fan hopped on Google Street View and matched a distinctive fir tree outside Arsenal's training ground to one outside Gabriel's window during his video.

Ten days later Gabriel signed… not that fans waited for the club's confirmation however, instead coming across a post from Well Tended Gardens Ltd in Hertfordshire that spoiled the surprise!

Phone a friend

It's not uncommon for fans of any club to bombard the comment section of transfer targets on Twitter or Instagram begging them to join.

Sometimes it works, as Gabriel said in 2020: "So many fans were sending me messages asking me to join Arsenal, and that played a big part in me signing for this club."

Other times it can become a bit unsettling as Odegaard revealed recently: "The fans were really pushing for me to come, they were messaging me all the time, messaging my family and everything!

"It was something new to me, sometimes it can be a bit much, but in general, I think it just shows the passion they have and how much they care."

However, on occasion, it can cause players like Houssem Aouar to tell Arsenal fans to stop bombarding his friends about a transfer.

Last summer, Gooners were convinced the Lyon star was finally set to make his move to the Emirates after believing his agent was in London.

Yet it turned out to be just a friend of Aouar's visiting the capital after he was inundated with messages from Arsenal fans about a move.

Plane sailing

Perhaps the most famous example came in 2018 when thousands of fans wasted an hour and a half of their lives watching a plane journey from Dortmund to London.

Of course, that was when Arsenal were closing in on the arrival of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang a day before deadline day in January.

And 32,000 supporters came across a private jet, named 'Flight C25A', making the route from Germany to England.

Since then, tracking planes that could be containing a future Arsenal player has become the norm in what truly is a wild time for fans.