Here are the Arsenal morning headlines for Thursday, August 20.
Gabriel ‘set for medical’
Having completed the signing of Willian to improve Mikel Arteta’s attacking option, Arsenal’s defence now looks set to receive a boost with the signing of Gabriel.
The Lille defender is reportedly due to conduct a medical with the club today, according to the Metro, ahead of signing a five-year deal with the Gunners.
The 22-year-old should enable Arsenal to defend with their back line higher up the pitch, so he could prove to be an important component of how Arteta wants his new-look team to play.
Napoli, Manchester United and Everton have all been reported as being interested in Gabriel this summer, so it’s clear Arsenal will have done well to secure his signature.
Klopp on Community Shield
Arsenal face Liverpool in the Community Shield, the traditional curtain raiser ahead of a new season, next Saturday.
The match is held between the Premier League champions and FA Cup winners from the previous campaign, but Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp does not expect either team to be at their best as the game comes midway through pre-season.
"It will be a good game, I'm pretty sure. Arsenal is a good team, so it will be a good game, but both teams will not be the finished articles,” he said.
"How can we be after two weeks training again and stuff like this? But that's not important because both teams probably have the same situation, so it will be tough.
"The 22nd is the first friendly, 25th second friendly, 29th [is] then the Community Shield, so you see it's a pretty tight one immediately."
Napoli striker heading to Arsenal?
With this summer promising to be a pivotal one ahead of Arteta’s first full season in charge, there will be an endless supply of transfer rumours connecting players with potential moves to the Emirates Stadium.
The latest of these stories sees Napoli striker Andrea Petagna linked with the club. CalcioMercato are reporting that Arteta has identified the 25-year-old as a forward he would like in his squad for 2020/21.
Petagna began his career with Milan, and spent last season on loan with SPAL, scoring 12 goals.
