Arsenal are gearing up for a pivotal January transfer window as their championship fight with Manchester City and Aston Villa intensifies.
Piero Hincapie has recovered from injury but Mikel Arteta is confronting a massive injury crisis with Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori both missing from yesterday’s 2-1 victory over Brighton, which came courtesy of a rare strike from captain Martin Odegaard and a Georgino Rutter own goal from a Declan Rice corner, with Diego Gomez later halving the deficit for the visitors.
The Gunners nevertheless may need to secure even more defensive reinforcements. Meanwhile, they have also been connected with Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo. However, City appear to be moving closer to landing the winger. Here’s all the latest news from the Emirates.
Arteta demonstrated his spending power and secured Rice in 2023 for a staggering £100million. This made the 26-year-old the joint-most-expensive English player in history alongside Manchester City star Jack Grealish.
During an appearance on the Smiths Brothers podcast, Gerrard is convinced his former club should’ve snatched the deal from beneath the Gunners’ noses. He said: “He’s maybe one we should have tried to grab from West Ham.
“I don’t know whether we did or not, but I think he’d have been brilliant for us. I mean, imagine him in midfield now.”
Rice has established himself as a cornerstone in the Gunners’ midfield engine room. The England star boasts 18 goals and 26 assists across 128 outings and is targeting Premier League triumph this term.
Gabriel Jesus appears destined to remain in north London this season despite Arteta’s summer efforts to offload the striker.
Following Viktor Gyokeres’ £63.7million arrival, Jesus’ future looked bleak in an Arsenal jersey. Nevertheless, the former City ace seems to have swayed Arteta’s thinking after conquering his fitness woes and with Gyokeres misfiring in front of goal. The Athletic reveals that the club are eager to retain Jesus for as long as possible with challenging fixtures looming.
It’s also believed Jesus has “re-asserted himself as an important” presence within the squad. This indicates the Brazilian is no longer viewed as expendable, contradicting the Mail’s October report suggesting Arsenal’s likelihood of selling Jesus post-Christmas was substantial.
Speaking before the club’s spot-kick triumph over Crystal Palace last week, Arteta was eager to emphasise the 28-year-old’s influence on the side. He said: “You can see now, not only in games but every day in training, how much he wants it. He’s going to deserve a chance soon.
“I watched him when he was seven months [off] the pitch, and the way he was moving and how much he wanted it. I think he wrote a beautiful letter [on The Players’ Tribune ] explaining what football means to him and how it affects his life. It was something beautiful.
“I think that’s probably the biggest quality of Gabi: bringing people together, connecting with people and generating a lot of uncertainty in the opponent. When you’ve seen [against Everton] the amount of spaces that he was involved in, that’s his biggest quality – so we need to exploit that.
“It’s been a really intense journey, I would say. I think when he joined us, he lifted the belief, the spirit and the energy of the club and the team. I think he gave something very different to what we already had and it was really impressive. And then he had some very bad injuries that haven’t allowed him to have the consistency that we need from a very important player.
“But he’s back. I think his fighting spirit, his desire to always prepare the best way… it’s unbelievable. The team has got it now and we need to use it.”
