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 Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal are all admirers of RB Leipzig midfielder Christopher Nkunku.   That’s according to Fussball Transfers, who claim that while Nkunku has no concrete offers on the table yet, he is attracting a lot of interest from England. Arsenal are long-term admirers and tried to sign him from PSG before he joined Leipzig. But it appears Arsenal will have to fight hard for his signature. According to Fussball Transfers, rivals Tottenham and United are also keen. Nkunku is currently enjoying a productive season in the Bundesliga. He has scored six goals and provided four assists in 22 league appearances, 14 of which have been starts. ADVERTISEMENT His versatility has been impressive, with Nkunku having played in midfield, out wide or even up front. Nkunku has helped Leipzig establish themselves as the best of the rest behind Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga this season. But their successful campaign means a lot of their top talent could be poached. Day...

  The Scotland international looks certain to miss both legs of the Europa League quarter-final against Slavia Prague with a knee injury. Kieran Tierney looks set to miss both legs of Arsenal’s Europa League quarter-final against Slavia Prague, with the left-back expected to be sidelined for at least a few weeks with the knee injury he picked up against Liverpool on Saturday . Tierney limped off during the first half of the 3-0 defeat and looked clearly distressed as he made his way back towards the changing room. The Scotland international is due to have a scan on his right knee on Tuesday, with the results expected to confirm an extended spell on the sidelines for the 23-year-old. What do we know so far? Tierney was injured just after the half-hour mark of Saturday’s meeting with Liverpool following a challenge with James Milner which saw his right leg buckle under him. “He felt something in his knee,” Mikel Arteta said after the game. “He was in pain so it looks like he will be ...

 Man United legend raves about Arsenal player The Former United defender Rio Ferdinand was clearly impressed with his young countryman Emile Smith Rowe has had a breakthrough season under Mikel Arteta this campaign. He has been a regular fixture in the Arsenal team for the past few months. It appears like Smith Rowe has been at the Emirates for a long time. But obviously, that is not the case. The 20-year-old made his first Premier League start against Chelsea at the end of 2020. Since then, the Hale End graduate has not looked back. He has since made 11 starts for the Gunners in the league, recording four assists. His total goal contributions stand at eight in 22 appearances for the first-team. In his YouTube channel, Rio Ferdinand had only good things to say for the 20-year-old, who was selected in England’s U21 group stage squad for the Euros in the summer. “I love the way he plays. I was worried actually when Odegaard came in. “Would the manager play him in the same team? But h...

  Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has spoken to Arsenal about signing Hatayspor striker Aaron Boupendza . The 24-year-old has been in fine form in the Turkish league this season and he has scored 18 goals in 26 games. He is the national teammate of the Arsenal captain and 90mins says he has spoken to the Gunners about landing him. The Gunners will face serious competition from top Premier League teams for his signature. His red-hot form has placed him on the radar of several European teams and the report adds that his club accepted a £7m offer from Russian side Krasnodar, but he turned them down. He reportedly wants to play in the Premier League and Aubameyang is keen to have him on his side at the Emirates. Arsenal faces an important summer that could see them change some of their current players. The Gunners might sell off Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah when the transfer window reopens. If these sales happen, they would have to replace the players and Boupendza could come in han...

 Paul Merson has claimed that Arsenal are the favourites for their Premier League clash against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. The Gunners head into the game looking to return to winning ways in the Premier League after their 1-1 draw with Burnley away from home last weekend. Arsenal took a step closer towards reaching the quarter-finals of the Europa League on Thursday night thanks to their 3-1 victory over Olympiakos. The north Londoners are now preparing for their derby showdown against Jose Mourinho’s side at The Emirates on Sunday. Spurs are currently seven points ahead of Arsenal in the table and the Gunners will be keen to close down that gap as the race for European qualification hots up. Former Arsenal star Merson is expecting to see the Gunners win the game on Sunday against their bitter local rivals. Writing in his column for the Daily Star, Merson said: “I think Arsenal are favourites against them this weekend. I really do. “If both teams play to the best of their ability...

Nigeria-eligible winger Joel Ideho has finally opened his goalscoring account for an Arsenal team but it was only a consolation as the Gunners were defeated 4-1 by Norwich City in the U18 Premier League on Saturday afternoon. Touted as one of the brightest young prospects in the Netherlands prior to his move to the Gunners last October, the former Ajax Amsterdam starlet has likened himself to Crystal Palace wing-wizard Wilfried Zaha. Ideho played ten matches in all competitions for Arsenal's youth teams before scoring his first goal - six in the U18 Premier League, two in the Premier League 2 and one each in the FA Youth Cup and EFL Trophy. Ideho was one of three players of Nigerian descent that started for Arsenal against the Canaries, the others being defender Zach Awe and winger Daniel Oyegoke. Springett opened the scoring for the home team just three minutes in, Dickson-Peters netted a brace which put the game beyond the reach of the north London club, Kamara got Norwich City...

  The Bundesliga club's coach says the midfielder still has much to learn about the professional game. Matteo Guendouzi is going through football "puberty", according to Hertha Berlin coach Pal Dardai, who says the Arsenal loanee has a "rebellious" streak. Guendouzi is currently taking in a season-long loan at Hertha, having been exiled from Mikel Arteta's Arsenal squad post-lockdown last season. The Frenchman has been regularly criticised for his attitude since joining the Gunners in 2018, and Dardai says he is still some way off the required level of maturity for a top-level footballer. What was said? The Hertha head coach told Bild of Guendouzi's ongoing development: "It's like puberty for him, he's kind of a rebel. He has to work and learn like an animal." In Sunday's 3-0 defeat by RB Leipzig, Guendouzi was introduced as a 68th minute substitute and, three minutes later, lost the ball inside his own box, leading to Leipzig's...

 The Gunners have taken the Norwegian playmaker on loan for the rest of the season, but several other summer targets are being mooted. Thomas Partey says it is “amazing” to have Martin Odegaard at Arsenal, with the Gunners midfielder hoping a Norwegian playmaker can help Mikel Arteta’s side hit ultimate targets before transfer options are weighed up. A highly-rated 22-year-old midfielder is set to see out the season at Emirates Stadium, with a lack of game time under Zinedine Zidane at Santiago Bernabeu leading a former teenage prodigy to north London. It remains to be seen how long Odegaard will spend in English football, with various alternative targets for Arteta being mooted, but Partey is delighted to have him on board. What has been said? “It’s difficult when you play against him. I remember playing against him, he’s so intelligent, he is always quick on the ball, he doesn’t give you a chance to win the ball,” Partey has told Stadium Astro. “It’s amazing to have him here. I h...

 Arsenal have some of the brightest young talent in world football, and FourFourTwo clearly agrees as they name four of our players amongst the top 50. Folarin Balogun is our lowest ranked teen to make the list coming in at 41. The forward is yet to make his Premier League debut for our side, but has impressed when coming off the bench in the Europa League. Unfortunately his future looks to lie elsewhere as we continue to struggle to tie him down to a new contract, with his current terms expiring this summer. Our next entrant comes in 31st in William Saliba. The defender has had less minutes for our side than the above, but has already made his mark in Ligue 1 prior to this season, and has returned to thoroughly impress on loan with Nice of late. Arsenal would appear crazy not to give him a chance to make his mark in the first-team next term, but Mikel Arteta is yet to show any interest in promoting Saliba into the first-team for reasons unknown. As you would expect, Gabriel Martin...

 The Gunners defender has seen a countryman struggle for form in north London, but he believes a spark will be rediscovered in time David Luiz says Willian “doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone” as he continues to scratch around for form at Arsenal. The Gunners were considered to have pulled off quite a coup when luring the Brazil international onto their books in the summer of 2020. After seven years at Chelsea, which delivered two Premier League titles, the 32-year-old crossed London to take on a new challenge at Emirates Stadium. His experience was expected to be put to good use by Mikel Arteta, but Willian has struggled to make an impact at Arsenal – leading to him coming in for plenty of criticism. Luiz claims to have no doubts that his fellow countryman will come good, with the Gunners defender backing a proven performer to rediscover his spark if a little patience is shown. “Few people know the person Willian. But those who do know can't say they don't love him. Beca...

The Italy international defender had the opportunity to join the Premier League side at 16 but turned down their advances to stay in his home country Juventus legend Giorgio Chiellini has admitted that he regrets turning down the chance to join Arsenal when they attempted to sign him at the age of 16. Chiellini, who joined Juve in 2005, has become synonymous with the Italian champions, winning nine Serie A titles and four Coppa Italia trophies, as well as reaching the final of the Champions League twice. However, the 36-year-old central defender has revealed that 20 years ago he had the opportunity to sign for Arsene Wenger's Gunners, but turned them down because he did not want to leave boyhood club Livorno - a decision he now regrets. In an interview with French magazine So Foot, Chiellini says: "In hindsight, I was a fool to decline that offer. I was 16, I played in Serie C, I got a huge offer. "I didn't feel ready. If I had accepted, it would have given the impres...

 Why Arsenal signing Jordan Amavi would be a wise move According to Birmingham Live, Arsenal are preparing to make an offer for Jordan Amavi. Mikel Arteta seems to be keen to add another left-back after the sale of Sead Kolasinac. Amavi has emerged as a target with the player refusing to extend his stay at Marseille. His current deal ends at the close of this season, thus making him a viable option for clubs such as Arsenal, Crystal Palace and Napoli. Profile Jordan Amavi spent 5 years in OGC Nice where he first broke into the senior team in 2013. After two years playing for Nice’s first-team, Aston Villa brought the player to England in 2015. After making 48 appearances for the Villans, Amavi returned to France at Marseille. The 26-year-old has represented France at the youth level but is yet to be capped by their senior team. (h/t Transfermarkt) The Ligue 1 side signed him in 2017, first on a loan basis and then making it permanent. Since then, the Frenchman has made over 100 app...

  The experienced Brazilian has been in impressive form and was named man of the match against Manchester United on Saturday Mikel Arteta has hailed the influence of David Luiz, calling the Arsenal defender a ‘joy to work with’. Having struggled with some injury issues this season, Luiz is now enjoying an excellent run of form and was named man of the match on Saturday as Arsenal drew 0-0 with Manchester United in the Premier League. The 33-year-old Brazilian has formed an impressive partnership with Rob Holding in the heart of the Arsenal defence in recent weeks and has started each of the last four league games, helping the Gunners to three clean sheets. And Arteta has paid tribute to the former Chelsea star for the way he continues to perform at the highest level. “It’s credit to him because he trains really hard,” said the Arsenal manager. “This season has been really tough in the beginning because he’s been through some injuries but he’s kept at it, he understood his role, he ...

The 22-year-old Norway international joins on a short-term deal until the end of the season, filling the creativity gap left by Mesut Ozil. Arsenal have signed Norway international Martin Odegaard on loan from Real Madrid. The 22-year-old playmaker joins until the end of the current season, providing the Gunners with some much-needed creativity following the departure of Mesut Ozil. Odegaard had requested to leave the Santiago Bernabeu in January due to a lack of first-team minutes so far this season. He has played only seven times in La Liga and is yet to complete 90 minutes for Madrid since returning from last season's loan spell at Real Sociedad. Sociedad had been linked with a move to take Odegaard back this month but a return became unlikely once Arsenal entered the race to sign him. What Odegaard has said about joining Arsenal Odegaard revealed the role Arteta played in his decision, telling the club's official website: "I spoke to him before coming here, of course. ...

 Kieran Tierney can add Sir Alex Ferguson to his growing list of admirers. The left-back has been a key player for Arsenal during their return to form over the past month, turning in excellent performances in wins over Chelsea, West Brom, and Newcastle United. So much so that he's caught the eye of the greatest manager in Premier League history. When discussing Scotland's chances at this summer's European Championships, Ferguson brought up the national team's strength in depth at left-back with Tierney and Liverpool's Andy Robertson in competition for the spot. After finding a solution to get both players in the same team, Ferguson heaped praise on the Gunners defender. "I do think Scotland have some very good midfield players, and I’m not sure how they’re gonna play Robertson and Tierney in the same team," Ferguson said on theLockdown Theatre - A Team Talk With Legends show on Friday night. I know there were some situations where they played Tierney as th...

The attacking midfielder's transfer could be announced as early as Sunday evening as his time in north London comes to an end Mesut Ozil’s seven-and-a-half year spell at Arsenal could come to an end as early as this weekend, with the Gunners star on the verge of leaving for Fenerbahce. Talks have been ongoing for weeks between the club and Ozil’s representatives in a bid to reach an agreement over ending his £350,000-a-week contract - which expires this summer and still had around £7 million left to run - early. And Goal can confirm that an agreement which will allow the 32-year-old to end his stay in north London has now been reached in principle following a breakthrough in negotiations, with only a few finer details left to resolve. Should things progress as hoped, sources at Arsenal expect Ozil to travel to Turkey in the coming days to complete a free transfer to Fenerbahce, the club he supported as a boy. Speaking earlier in the month, Ozil’s agent Erkut Sogut said: “Everyone k...

 Mesut Ozil is closer than ever to the exit door at Arsenal. According to The Athletic, the 32-year-old and the Gunners have reached an agreement in principle to terminate his reported £350,000-a-week contract with immediate effect As a result, Ozil's seven-and-a-half-year career at Arsenal will come to an end. In addition, the report states that of all goes to plan the attacking midfielder will travel to Fenerbahce this weekend ahead of completing a free transfer. his development falls in line with what Fenerbahce's sporting director Emre Belozoglu said about getting a deal for Ozil over the line. "Mesut Ozil has been one of the most special players in the world for his position in the last 20 years," Emre told Turkish media, as per Sky Sports. "If this transfer takes place, it will be a first. I regard it as a very positive move for both our community and our president, but I don't think it will be easy. We have our own plans. And Mesut has a contract with ...

 Gabriel Martinelli had quickly established himself as an integral Arsenal first-teamer last season, but his progress has been severely hampered by injuries and had only made two League starts in this campaign. So he must have been devastated when he twisted his ankle in the warm up to the FA cup game against Newcastle, and he had to sit out the game. After the match Mikel Arteta was very worried indeed about the extent of Martinelli’s injury, but yesterday he sounded a lot more upbeat after seeing Martinelli a day later. He said on Arsenal.com: “We don’t know how bad he is. He’s getting a scan this morning. We didn’t look after the game because he was in a lot of pain but yesterday he tested it a little bit better, so let’s hope. We have a scan today so let’s hope it’s not as serious and we can have Gabi back really soon. We will know more tomorrow, certainly.” Arteta was then asked if he was worried about Martinelli’s injury record, and he responded: “It’s more bad luck. It’s onl...

  So Arsenal may have made hard work of beating Newcastle in the Third Round of the FA Cup, and it looks like it could get even tougher for us to go on to win a record 15th FA Cup Final win. I think there are very few pundits that would forecast that Southampton v Shrewsbury Town would end up in an away win, especially as the lower League side have got coronavirus problems limiting their choice of players, but you never know we may just get very lucky! So as much as we love to see a bit of giant-killing, I have a feeling we’ll be going down to St. Marys on the 23rd Jan, where we won 2-0 last season. It will also be important for us to win psychologically as well, as we will be at the same ground three days later to play the Saints in the League. If we do manage to get through we could then have another tough away game at Wolves, unless the mighty Crawley can emulate their incredible win over Leeds in the Third Round. Funnily enough we also have to travel to Molineux for a League ga...

 Once he hit the U18s he was known as a prolific goalscorer, and was quickly promoted to the U23s, where he carried on scoring despite his age, and Arsene Wenger introduced him to the senior side. Fans started to take notice when he came on as a sub in a League Cup game against Norwich and scored both goals and we were excited for his future. But that promise has never quite materialised. Eddie has continued to be prolific against Smaller sides (i.e. League Cup, Europa League and England U21 qualifiers) but in the League he has managed just 4 goals in 33 appearances, although mostly off the bench. The superstriker never seems to emerge, but I guess we have to remember he is still only 21 and has rarely had a run in the senior side, but I don’t think fans are as excited about him displacing Aubameyang or Lacazette any more. So, the rumours today are that West Ham are considering making an offer for Eddie, after selling Hillier to Ajax for 20m, and we could probably do with selling a...