A round-up of the latest Arsenal news with updates from Emirates Stadium on Martin Odegaard plus Mikel Arteta’s transfer interest in Aurelien Tchouameni of Real Madrid.
Arteta marks Real Madrid’s Tchouameni as Arsenal’s top transfer target
The Gunners smashed the bank to sign Declan Rice in a club-record transfer from West Ham United this summer. But Arteta already has eyes on the next off-season market. The Arsenal boss has now marked Real Madrid midfielder Tchouameni as his top target for next summer.
That is according to Football Transfers, which reports that Arteta wants to sign Rice’s partner for the future in Tchouameni. He is eager to replace Thomas Partey and Jorginho as they do not have long-term futures in north London. Arsenal even spoke to Los Blancos this summer.
Arteta also wants Arsenal to sign Tchouameni from Real Madrid as he would play in front of France teammate William Saliba at the Emirates. But the Gunners could face a huge price to sign the 23-year-old. He quit Monaco for €80m (£69m), up to €100m (£87m), in June 2022.
Read more on Arteta’s interest in Tchouameni’s transfer to Arsenal from Real Madrid, here.
Wright outlines why Odegaard struggled away to Sevilla in the Champions League
Two Brazilians secured Arsenal a 2-1 win over Sevilla in the Champions League this Tuesday. Gabriel Martinelli (45+3’) and Gabriel Jesus (53’) dealt their damage at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan to top Group B. But Gunners captain Odegaard endured a sub-par time in Andalusia.
Arsenal legend Ian Wright believes Odegaard could not pull the strings as Sevilla denied him space. He also claims Boubakary Soumare kept a lid on the Norway skipper, who Arteta even took off in the 73rd minute. Odegaard did not build on his four goals and an assist this term.
“It wasn’t a great game for our captain,” Wright explained on his Wrighty’s House podcast. “He was thinking he would get the space in the midfield to turn and do a bit… Boubakary Soumare – on loan from Leicester – was really good, he really stifled out Martin Odegaard.”
Read more on Wright’s thoughts about Odegaard’s performance for Arsenal at Sevilla, here.
Ramos outlines the Arsenal weakness Sevilla wanted to ‘take advantage of’
Arsenal held on to beat Sevilla 2-1 on Tuesday night as Los Nervionenses applied increasing pressure in the second half. Mistakes from David Raya gifted the La Liga side chances to pull level in the Champions League tie. But Sergio Ramos sees a greater flaw in Arteta’s tactics.
Ramos outlined after the match how Sevilla wanted to ‘take advantage of’ certain situations that Arsenal’s system presents. The Real Madrid icon believes Arteta’s system can leave the Gunners exposed. But his Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan squad did not capitalise on them enough.
“One-against-one, we had chances to hurt them knowing that Arsenal are a team that wants to play football,” Ramos stated, via quotes by football.london. “That leaves a lot of space on the line to take advantage of those losses that we sometimes found.
“But we did not capitalise well enough. I think that, in the end, we played face-to-face, both against Real Madrid and Arsenal. It is true that it is difficult not to see a difference before we played the teams that, for me, currently play the best in Europe.”
Read more on Ramos’ thoughts after Arsenal beat Sevilla in the Champions League, here.
Neville issues one-word Premier League title race prediction for Arsenal
Gary Neville has issued a new prediction for the 2023/24 Premier League title race, backing Arsenal to lift the crown. The Manchester United icon simply replied with a one-word post on X during a Q&A held on the social media platform previously known as Twitter this Thursday.
Arsenal currently sit third in the standings through nine matches after drawing 2-2 away at Chelsea last Saturday. But Arteta’s team are only two points behind early leaders and north London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur. Arsenal are also level on 21 points with Manchester City.
Read more on Neville’s prediction that Arsenal will win the 2023/24 Premier League, here.
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