A round-up of the latest Arsenal news as Martin Odegaard issues an honest claim and Jarrod Bowen opens up on West Ham United’s controversial goal from Tomas Soucek.
Arsenal target Viktor Gyokeres of Sporting Lisbon ‘doesn’t care’ about transfer interest
Sporting Lisbon star Viktor Gyokeres has dealt Arsenal and Chelsea a blow to their interest in his transfer for January. The Sweden striker has admitted that he does not care about any of the sides targeting his services. He also promised the Leoes’ fans that he will stay in January.
Reports by Correio da Manha claim that Arsenal frightened Sporting boss Ruben Amorim by showing an interest in Gyokeres’ transfer. He fears the Liga Portugal club are at risk of losing their forward in January as the €100m (£87m) release clause may no longer be high enough.
Sporting will only let Gyokeres move in January if a suitor pays the release clause in full. The 25-year-old also only moved to Lisbon in July from Coventry City. But he has scored 17 goals and assisted a further eight in just 20 games. So, Arsenal and Chelsea are studying a swoop.
Gyokeres, though, is fully committed to spending the season at Sporting. So, he is now likely to snub any interest that Arsenal et al show in his transfer with further sides monitoring the Sporting sensation. Three of his 17 goals so far this term came over five Europa League ties.
“I think it’s a bit like when Sporting came in to sign me,” Gyokeres has told Record. “I’m very happy here and I don’t care about any interested parties, at the moment.
“I’m enjoying every day here and not thinking about what’s going on around me. Yes, there’s talk of big clubs. But, for now, it’s just news. That’s all.”
Read more about what Arsenal target Gyokeres of Sporting has said about a transfer, here.
Martin Odegaard issued an honest claim after West Ham beat Arsenal
Arsenal captain Odegaard admits Mikel Arteta’s team must ‘improve’ after losing 2-0 against West Ham on Thursday night. The Irons soaked up the Gunners’ pressure around goals from Soucek (13’) and Konstantinos Mavropanos (55’) to stop Arsenal moving atop the top-flight.
The Emirates Stadium natives would have topped the Premier League table at the 19-match stage with a win. But Soucek put West Ham ahead in controversial fashion when VAR Craig Pawson could not conclusively prove if Bowen had stopped the ball from going out of play.
Arsenal had lots of chances to reply before and after Mavropanos doubled West Ham’s lead, as well. Gabriel Jesus spurned the Gunners’ best chance when the striker failed to direct his header on target from six yards out. It was one of 30 shots Arsenal attempted on Thursday.
Arteta’s side even set a new Premier League record with the most touches in an opponent’s area (77) in one match without scoring. Now, Odegaard urges Arsenal to improve in front of the goal with Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah (5) their top scorers so far in this league term.
“It’s one of those nights,” Odegaard admitted, via quotes by the Express. “We had a lot of chances but in the box, we were not good enough. We have to improve in front of the goal and it’s down to the whole team to do that.”
Read more about what Odegaard said after Arsenal lost 2-0 to West Ham, here.
West Ham winger Jarrod Bowen opens up Tomas Soucek’s controversial goal
West Ham winger Bowen has also opened up on Soucek’s controversial goal against Arsenal this Thursday. VAR Pawson could not advise referee Michael Oliver to overturn the on-field decision of a goal as he did not have a camera angle that conclusively showed it was illegal.
The ball might have exited the pitch when Oleksandr Zinchenko blocked Gabriel Magalhaes’ attempted clearance of Emerson Palmieri’s cross. Bowen’s leg blocked Pawson’s sight of the ball on the only replay which could clearly show its position as the winger crossed it back in.
VAR Pawson did not have an overhead angle or a camera from the other side of the pitch to conclusively view the position of the ball. Bowen also feels the ball being in the air when he crossed it back into an unmarked Soucek worked against Arsenal and in West Ham’s favour.
“Listen, when it happened in a split-second I knew the ball was in mid-air, so it’s probably hard to tell at the time,” Bowen told the West Ham website. “Obviously, you don’t want it to go out. So, you try to keep it in play quickly and, like I said, it’s difficult and I haven’t seen it.
“But I was there at the time and it’s one of those where because the ball was in the air, it was hard to tell. If it had been on the ground, it would probably have been easier to tell. All I could do was try and get it across to Tom or Mo and the goal was scored and it stood.”
Read more about what Bowen has said about Soucek’s goal for West Ham at Arsenal, here.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
