Here are your Arsenal evening headlines for Saturday, 26 September.
Lyon chief makes statement amid Arsenal pursuit of midfielder
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has all but confirmed an offer has been made by Arsenal for sought after midfielder Houssem Aouar.
Aouar has been identified as a priority target by Mikel Arteta, with the Spaniard keen to add some creativity to his midfield, with reports surfacing on Twitter on Friday evening that the Gunners had lodged an official bid for the player.
Posting on Twitter, Aulas wrote: “For Houssem Arsenal is too far from his value: we are counting on him to play a great match in Lorient and lead OL in CL next year.”
The use of the words “too far from his value” implies that Arsenal have made an offer for Aouar, with Lyon still holding firm in their £55million valuation of the France international.
Arsenal midfielder praises new signings for bringing “quality and mentality” to club
Granit Xhaka has spoken about how summer signings Gabriel Magalhaes and Willian have brought “quality and mentality” to the Arsenal dressing room this season.
Gabriel arrived in a £25million move from Lille, while Willian made the switch to the Emirates Stadium after leaving Chelsea as a free agent at the end of last season, and Xhaka has praised both as players and characters.
“With Willian and Gabriel, Arsenal brought a lot of quality and mentality into the dressing room," Xhaka told the Swiss Telegraphic Agency. “Willian knows how to win titles.
“And the extension with Aubameyang was an important signal for all of us - we want to go back to the Champions League.”
Glenn Hoddle praises Mikel Arteta for impact on Arsenal defence
Former England midfielder and manager Glenn Hoddle has highlighted the impact Mikel Arteta has made on Arsenal’s defence, making a prediction for the Gunners’ trip to Anfield to take on Liverpool this weekend.
The Gunners have started their 2020/21 Premier League campaign with two straight wins and Hoddle believes the biggest difference can be found at the back.
“Without a shadow of a doubt, no disrespect to the teams they’ve already played,” Hoddle told The Weekend Preview, via the Metro, when asked whether Monday’s game against Liverpool is the first real test Arsenal will have faced this season.
“But they do look better, they’ve got a nice balance to the team now. Defensively they were poor, let’s be honest. They had some fire power going forward over the last few seasons but you just felt they were going to concede and give goals away.
“Sometimes you get teams create against you, that’s one thing, they’ve earned the right to score but Arsenal were giving goals away left, right and centre. ‘He’s tightened that up and I think that’s more of a unit.”
