Here is your Arsenal morning digest for Thursday, August 20.
Mikel Arteta's bold Arsenal introduction
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has provided an insight into the early days of his reign at the Emirates Stadium and the introduction he made.
"The first thing is I got everyone together, staff and players, and told them what I thought about them and why this wasn't working. If we were going to continue like this, it was not going to work it doesn't matter who the manager, the chairman [is], it's depending on them." he told Arsenal's official website.
"The first one [process] was to create the right culture for our club. It has to be an environment that everybody has to respect each other, have to work together and express the passion and how lucky we are to be where we are. From there, there are so many things that are related in order to achieve the targets we have," he explained in more detail.
What Gabriel Magalhaes will provide
Arsenal are pushing to sign Lille defender Gabriel Magalhaes as their next major addition in the transfer market and he will bolster the squad in a significant way.
His main advantage relates to defensive errors. According to StatsBomb’s data on FBRef.com, the Brazilian didn’t make a single mistake which led to an opposition shot in Ligue 1 this season, and neither did he concede any penalties.
Gabriel’s record suggests he is slightly better at pressuring opposing players than Arsenal were this season too. His success rate, which is measured by whether or not his team recovered possession within five seconds of the press, was the fourth-best in Ligue 1 at 39.1 per cent. This puts him ahead of the Gunners’ top performers - Calum Chambers (35.7%) and Luiz (34.6%).
Gabriel is also left-footed, unlike Luiz. This may not seem so important, but it enables a defender on that side to play the ball more quickly and usually more accurately.
Hector Bellerin backed for exit
Former Arsenal striker Charlie Nicholas has backed the Gunners to cash-in on Hector Bellerin if the right price emerges in the summer transfer market.
"I would also contemplate and look at, people have been mentioning, somebody like Bellerin if the right money came," Nicholas told Sky Sports News.
"Now, Bellerin has been a star but since his bad injury he's never really recovered fully. If we can get him fit again and get him going again, then I'm all for Bellerin staying here. But if they get the right offer, we would have to consider it."
