It's shaping up to be a big summer for Arsenal.

The North London club are preparing for their first summer under the leadership of Mikel Arteta which means that first team squad will need attention.

The Gunners are enduring a bitterly disappointing season so far and find themselves way off the pace in the hunt for a top four finish.

That means that the chances of playing in the Champions League next term are slim at best.

Given increasing expectations at Arsenal, this season will go down as a failure and that means that some fresh faces could be brought to the club to galvanise their efforts for next term.

One man who has been linked is Allan Saint-Maximin.

Reports from France suggested that the Newcastle United star is attracting admiring glances from the North London side.

However according to David Ornstein of The Athletic, that's not the case.

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Signed for just £16.5million last summer, the Frenchman is attracting the attention of several of the Premier League's top six, as well as Paris Saint-Germain and Napoli

Described by Steve Bruce as 'the signing of the season', Newcastle are unlikely to want to sell their prized asset, meaning that it would take a significant sum to convince them to sell the star who is valued at £18m by Transfermarkt.

The Gunners are certainly on the hunt for attacking reinforcement with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette likely to move on, however it now seems that the pacey winger is not one of the options being assessed.

The report claims that Arsenal have made contact with the player's representatives, however a formal bid is yet to be made to Newcastle United.

GIVEMESPORT'S Phil Spencer says...

This is a real boost for Newcastle United.

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Mikel Arteta is in real need of a summer reboot and signing a player such as Allan Saint-Maximin would certainly fit the bill.

Of course Steve Bruce will be unwilling to lose their star man, and that means that the Gunners need to look elsewhere.

Signed only last year, the winger has five years remaining on his contract and that means that the club are under no pressure to cash in.

Should a takeover be completed, players like Saint-Maximin will be key to helping the club in their ambitions of reaching the next level.