Arsenal
midfielder Matteo Guendouzi has acknowledged that he was surprised after
earning a call-up to the France senior squad for the first time. The
20-year-old was expected to represent the France under-21s during the
international break but an injury to Paul Pogba meant that he was handed with
his maiden call-up to Didier Deschamps’ squad.
Arsenal legend Ian Wright believes Liverpool can make the push for the Premier League title this season after missing out to Manchester City by the slimmest of margins last term. The Reds accumulated a record club tally of 97 points last season, but that was not sufficient to hand them a maiden Premier League title with the Citizens outclassing them by the single point.
The representative of Shkodran Mustafi has indicated that there has been no contact from any side regarding the defender’s services. The Germany international has drawn plenty of criticism from the Arsenal supporters during pre-season and reports have emerged that the club are prepared to sanction his sale before the Premier League campaign begins.
Speaking to Romanews, the player’s agent has revealed that there has been no contact with AS Roma or any other Italian side and Mustafi is likely to stay put with the Gunners ahead of the 2019/2020 season, he said: “For me it is something new. There is nothing with the Giallorossi or Italian clubs, I have not had contact for now.”
Arsenal legend Ian Wright believes Liverpool can make the push for the Premier League title this season after missing out to Manchester City by the slimmest of margins last term. The Reds accumulated a record club tally of 97 points last season, but that was not sufficient to hand them a maiden Premier League title with the Citizens outclassing them by the single point.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Wright said that the Reds will have learnt from the previous campaign where they were guilty of dropping points in the form of draws, he said: “What I’m seeing from Liverpool this season, I have to say Man City are magnificent, Liverpool will have to learn from the slip up against Leicester and when City lost to Newcastle. At the end of the day, they lost the league by a point and what I’m making of this, is that what Liverpool learnt from last season is how important it is to not drop points when you have the opportunity to win games at home, that’s what it’s going to come down to.”
BBC Sport pundit David Ornstein has said that he would be surprised, if Arsenal are able to land the signature of Wilfried Zaha from Crystal Palace this summer. The Ivorian has been earmarked as the club’s prime target for the transfer window but so far, they have failed with an opening offer worth £40m for the 26-year-old.
Speaking to Arseblog, Ornstein told that the club are not close to making any new signings and he would be staggered, should Zaha head to the Emirates this summer. He added that Malcom has been earmarked as the alternative from Barcelona and a deal could work out with Gunners chief Raul Sanllehi holding a good association with the Blaugrana.
The representative of Yannick Ferreira Carrasco has revealed that the Belgian may have to stick with Dalian Yifang beyond the summer, considering the Chinese Super League side have no plans to sanction his sale. The 25-year-old has been vocal about the desire to return to Europe this summer but so far, Dalian have shown little interest in listening to potential offers.
Speaking to Belgian outlet HLN, agent Christophe Henrotay revealed that the likes of Arsenal have expressed an interest in his client but a deal appears unlikely with Dalian not considering a sale, he said: "There are clubs that would like to sign him. One club submitted a formal offer. Other clubs, such as Arsenal, also wanted to do that, but Dalian said he was not for sale."
Arsenal legend-turned-pundit Martin Keown has said that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the closest thing when it comes to comparing with former Gunners star Thierry Henry. The Gabon international has been in top form for the north London side through the campaign and he recently grabbed a hat-trick against Valencia to guide his team to the Europa League final.
Speaking on BT Sport, Keown said that there are similarities between Aubameyang and Henry and happened to praise the former, who made the step up alongside Alexandre Lacazette during the knockout stages of this season’s Europa League, he said: "I have said it before but he is the closest thing to [Thierry] Henry and he is proving that tonight. We are getting out of our chairs every time he has the ball.
AS Monaco midfielder Aleksandr Golovin has indicated that Thierry Henry was nervous during his managerial stint at the club and would raise his voice when things were not going perfectly in training. The Frenchman was appointed as the club’s manager shortly after Leonardo Jardim’s sacking in October, but he would only last for three months before the latter was reappointed at the helm.
In an interview covered by FourFourTwo, Golovin suggested that the former Arsenal man failed to kill the player role within him and this did not suit the managerial style with the players, he said: “Maybe Henry didn’t kill the role of the player inside of him. When things weren’t working out during practice he would get nervous and yell a lot. Maybe it was unnecessary. He was a very strong player and the only players near his level at Monaco are maybe [Radamel] Falcao and [Cesc] Fabregas. He would try to go out onto the field and show us how to practice and yell.”
Former Manchester United defender Patrice Evra believes that France international midfielder Paul Pogba can do better for his club. He said that the player was outstanding with France at the last World Cup and he has yet to play like this for Manchester United.
He believes that the current Manchester United team does not take full advantage of Paul Pogba’s talent and that the player has yet to give his best for the team.
Patrice Evra said that there are some good players at Manchester United and he does not understand why the club is underperforming at the moment. He said that there have been some new hopes among fans that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be able to improve the team and that they will have to wait for the next season to find out which player he brings in.
Arsenal legend-turned-pundit Paul Merson believes the Gunners would consider offloading Mesut Ozil in the summer despite the midfielder’s improved showing under Unai Emery over the past few games. The former Germany international has been in-and-out of the starting lineup this term due to form and fitness concerns but he has recently won over the manager with three successive starts in all competitions.
Despite this, Merson does not believe Ozil will remain at the Emirates beyond the summer with the board likely to take the opportunity to sanction his departure. Adding further, the ex-Arsenal favourite suggested that Gareth Bale from Real Madrid could be an option, although he has not been linked with the Gunners in any form this year.
