Here are your Arsenal evening headlines for Sunday, March 29.
Aubameyang ‘Plan B’ for Real Madrid
Zinedine Zidane has reportedly told Arsenal star striker and captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang that he wants to bring him to the Spanish capital, but the club’s primary transfer target remains Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland, while Liverpool’s Sadio Mane is also on the agenda. That is according to a report in the Express, which believes the Gabonese striker remains an option for Los Blancos.
Aubameyang has been prolific for the North London club since his January 2018 switch from the Bundesliga, scoring 61 goals in 96 appearances. However, the striker is out of contract in 2021 so the North London club are likely to cash-in on him rather than risk losing him on a free transfer.
Aubameyang has been linked to both Madrid and Barcelona at various points throughout this campaign, with both El Clasico clubs said to be keen to bolster their attacking options.
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta last month outlined the club’s intentions to keep the hitman at the Emirates: "For me, it is very easy, I want to keep him under any circumstances.
“We will see the intentions that we have and his intentions. Where we are sitting in the table at that moment. I think it is difficult to predict that context right now.”
Gunners join pursuit of Jovic
While Aubameyang is being linked with a move to Madrid, Luka Jovic is a striker who could be going in the opposite direction. That is according to the Daily Star, who report that the Serbian is now on the Gunners’ shortlist, with Tottenham and Chelsea also linked.
Jovic has failed to meet expectations at the club this campaign and looks set for a summer move. The 22-year-old only joined Los Blancos in a landmark €60m deal last summer from Eintracht Frankfurt but he has started only four league games and has found himself frozen out of Zinedine Zidane’s plans.
He netted 27 goals for Eintracht Frankfurt last season, including 10 in the Europa League - which included netting at home and away to Chelsea in their semi-final tie, but his progress has stalled this year. Jovic has failed to dislodge Karim Benzema in Madrid’s starting line-up this time round and could be set for an exit to England.
Kroenke could hold out for £2billion in Arsenal takeover
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote - the richest man in Africa - is a big Arsenal fan and is said to be keen on buying the club. Many Gunners fans are keen to see the back of current majority shareholder Stan Kroenke, but the reality of the situation is that any takeover deal may yet be some way off.
Ranking at number 136 on Forbes' rich list, 62-year-old Dangote outlined his ambition of potentially buying the Gunners in a video released in January. “It is a team that yes I would like to buy some day, but what I keep saying is we have $20billion worth of projects and that's what I really want to concentrate on,” he told the David Rubenstein Show in America. “I'm trying to finish building the company and then after we finish, maybe some time in 2021 we can.
“I'm not buying Arsenal right now, I'm buying Arsenal when I finish all these projects, because I'm trying to take the company to the next level.”
Bob Ratcliffe told the Financial Times' Business of Football Summit that a takeover of a 'top six' club would cost at least £2billion, although there are suggestions that the Gunners may be worth slightly less than that amount. Data from August 2019 points to the club being worth £1,837,816,125 - which would be the value of any sale.
