Here are the Arsenal evening headlines for Sunday, May 10.
Julio Baptista on his time at Arsenal
Julio Baptista has opened up on his loan spell at Arsenal from Real Madrid during the 2006/07 campaign.
The Brazilian forward only spent one season at the club but looks back fondly on his time in north London. He is remembered particularly well for his role in Arsenal’s run to the 2007 League Cup final, scoring six times in three games, including four against Liverpool.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Baptista labelled Arsene Wenger a ‘precise coach’ and ‘a very kind person’ before explaining why the loan deal was not made permanent.
“I left the club at my best moment,” he said.
“I had adapted to the city of London and my level of English had improved considerably. The bad thing is that I was there on loan and in the end Arsenal was unable to agree a permanent move for me because they couldn't afford Real Madrid's asking price.”
Unai Emery on Dani Ceballos’ future
Former Arsenal boss Unai Emery has been speaking to Spanish newspaper AS about on-loan Gunners midfielder Dani Ceballos.
The former Real Betis man signed for Emery’s Arsenal at the beginning of the season but his loan move expires in June.
Emery has suggested that despite his injury troubles over the course of this season, Ceballos still has much to contribute to Arsenal, now under the management of Mikel Arteta.
“Dani is a player who has excellent qualities and an incredible mentality,” Emery said.
“He played with me, then he was injured and he was out for a long time.
“He has recovered and now, when the league resumes, he will certainly demonstrate his qualities again.”
Sanllehi can fund Arsenal deals for Thomas Partey and Orkun Kokcu with £159m cash injection
Arsenal have been linked with a host of players ahead of the transfer window, but the Gunners will have to raise funds through sales this summer.
Here's how the north London side could raise additional finances to land their targets.
Plans to resume season put on hold
The completion of Arsenal’s Premier League campaign looks set to be delayed even further amid new reports that three Brighton & Hove Albion players have tested positive for coronavirus.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Brighton Chief Executive Paul Barber said: “Unfortunately we've had a third player test positive yesterday [Saturday, May 9], so despite all of the measures that we've been taking over the past few weeks, where the players haven't been involved in any significant training at all, we've still suffered another player testing positive for the virus.”
Barber has expressed his displeasure towards the Premier League’s ‘Project Restart’ plans, and has sought assurances that relegation would be off the table in any scenario which required clubs to fulfil fixtures behind closed doors.
The Brighton chief executive added that he would not expect any of the league’s other chief executives to act any differently, considering staff and players’ safety remains at risk.
Arsenal were due to play away at Brighton on 14th March, a fixture which will now be rescheduled if the season is to restart
