Welcome to our football.london Arsenal media watch piece. Maybe not the first, we've definitely done transfer round-ups before, and European round-ups, so I guess in some ways it's not that new at all. Anyway, we thought we would enter the world of football in a broad and roundabout manner for you and have some fun with some of the stories and captions doing the daily rounds.
Torreira to Fiorentina confirmed
Lucas Torreira has officially joined Fiorentina from Arsenal on loan ahead of the 2021/22 season with a £12.8m option to buy.
The Uruguay international joined the Gunners from Sampdoria in 2017 in a deal worth £25.8 million and went on to make 89 appearances for the north London side before falling out of favour under new boss Mikel Arteta.
Torreira spent last season on loan with Atletico Madrid playing a bit-part role in Diego Simeone's La Liga triumph, featuring 19 times but averaging just 26.4 minutes a game in the league.
The 25-year-old, who spent this summer at the Copa America, will be able to look back fondly of his time at the Emirates having scored in the November 2018 4-2 north London derby win.
Gunners build confidence ahead of City
Arteta's side have been drawn against AFC Wimbledon in the third round of the Carabao Cup following the Gunners' rampant 6-0 win over a youthful West Bromwich Albion side.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang took centre stage opened his scoring for the season netting a hat-trick, meanwhile, Bukayo Saka, Nicolas Pepe and Alexandre Lacazette all chipped in on the act, building confidence ahead of their trip to the Etihad on Saturday.
The pressure has already begun to build on Arteta's shoulder amid concerns regarding his job security, however, a healthy win with a handful of positive displays boosts the Gunners' confidence against the league champions.
Arteta sanctions more transfers
Following the Carabao cup clash, Arteta revealed that there is more business yet to be completed before the summer transfer window deadline.
The Gunners boss insisted that the club have a few more sales lined up that they would like to complete, hinting that by securing a windfall of cash Arsenal could warrant the arrivals of several new faces at London Colney before the window slams shut at 23:00 BST, August 31.
Speaking after the game, Arteta said: "I don't know what will happen, there's still a few days to go. We have some exits as well planned, so we will see."
football.london revealed in May that the Gunners were interested in signing a right-back if Hector Bellerin left this summer and this may still be on the cards following further reports.
The Athletic have claimed that the Spaniard is 'determined' to leave the Emirates Stadium and is becoming growingly frustrated with Arsenal's lack of corporation in allowing him to leave.
Kane admission spells bad news for Arsenal ahead of City clash
Harry Kane took to Twitter to announce that we would be staying at Tottenham this season despite ongoing reports linking him to Manchester City.
However, by staying in north London, not only does the Spurs and England captain threaten Arsenal's push for reclaiming a European place but it also piles the pressure on Pep Guardiola's side to step up their pursuit of signing a new striker this summer.
Jorge Mendes, Cristiano Ronaldo's agent, has approached City regarding a move for the Portuguese talisman however talks are 'complicated', according to Fabrizio Romano.
Guardiola wants to keep Gabriel Jesus at the Ethiad, meanwhile, the City hierarchy is not prepared to pay the up-front €28/30 million (£24/25.7m) fee demanded by Juventus, reported Romano.
This means that the Gunners may face the five-time Ballon d'Or winner on Saturday should an agreement come to fruition, but Kane's admission to stay put could serve as a lose-lose situation for Arsenal ahead of the weekend.
