Good afternoon and welcome to our latest Arsenal Q&A with football.london club writer Art de Roche.
Less than a month after lifting the FA Cup for a record-14th time, the Gunners return to Wembley this Saturday [August 29] to take on Liverpool in the Community Shield.
Having played just one pre-season friendly against MK Dons, the match comes in the middle of their preparation for the 2020/21 campaign but serves as another opportunity for silverware just eight months into Mikel Arteta's reign.
Despite kick off being a day away, talk surrounding Arsenal has been dominated by the potential signing of Gabriel Magalhaes from Lille.
As revealed by football.london on August 23, a full agreement has been reached for the centre-back, however, we are still waiting for an announcement, which Arteta couldn't give despite highlighting the player in his pre-match press conference.
"Regarding Gabriel, we cannot announce anything yet, the deal is not finalised - you all know he is a player that we have followed for a long time and hopefully we can get it done.
"Everything is okay when both parties sign, and the player agrees the terms and he goes through the medical - sometimes that, in the final stages, is not as easy as it looks. But we are pretty positive that we can do it.
"Again, when we get it I will be very pleased. He's a player that we've followed and we're very determined that it was the right profile for us to improve our squad. If we are able to finalise it, we will be delighted."
Fans have also been waiting patiently for the announcement of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's contract extension. The club captain has been crucial to the Gunners since arriving in 2018 and is expected to sign a three-year deal but the confirmation still awaits despite Arteta's confidence.
"I keep being positive. We have some really good talks with him and his agents and I am pretty confident that we can find an agreement soon. That's my feeling," the Spaniard added.
"Absolutely [it will be a massive lift], and for him as well! I think he should be very happy if he is able to stay at the club for a long time and I think he will be delighted with the news."
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