Here is your Arsenal morning digest for Wednesday, April 15.
Martinelli explains reaction to hearing Arsenal’s interest
Brazilian starlet Gabriel Martinelli has been an instant hit with Arsenal fans since his summer move from Brazil, hitting the ground running with prolific goalscoring form.
The 18-year-old had described his delight at learning of the Gunners' interest, before they sealed the transfer in July.
"I remember that I was playing in the Campeonato Paulista for Ituano and we'd played Guarani," he told the official Arsenal App.
"We won the game and I scored the winning goal. When I got home, I was with my family and my agent called me to say he wanted to talk to me about something important.
"The Campeonato Paulista was coming to an end and he said an offer had come in from Arsenal. I didn't think twice and came here, because it was a dream for me and my family to play for one of the best clubs in Europe."
Arsenal transfer plans to be scuppered?
The transfer window can have wide-ranging implications, and a new report from German outlet Bild could potentially spell bad news for Mikel Arteta in his transfer plans this summer.
With Jadon Sancho expected to leave Borussia Dortmund this summer, it’s been suggested that the Bundesliga giants have earmarked Valencia starlet Ferran Torres as his replacement.
Torres has been linked with a number of Premier League clubs, but it’s one of his team-mates at Valencia that Arteta has reportedly targeted to come into the Gunners midfield: Carlos Soler.
If Valencia receive a sizeable fee for Torres, that would leave them with less of a need to sell another one of their stars. It’s said that Los Che are having financial problems and need to raise more than £36m in player sales before June 30 in order to balance the books.
Carragher hails Arsenal legend
Former Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher has chosen a striker that he came up against plenty of times as the best-ever Premier League player.
"I think Thierry Henry is the greatest Premier League player of all time and certainly my toughest opponent," he told Sky Sports' The Football Show.
"That Arsenal Invincibles team he played in and the two or three years around that would certainly be the toughest opponent I played at and that's home and abroad.
"The problem with that Arsenal team was that when you got in the tunnel with them, everyone was six foot two and had shoulders out here.
"You look at the physical battle and you couldn't knock them out of their stride, they were too physically strong for you at different times.”
We’re sure any Arsenal fans would echo his sentiments.
