According to The Mirror (Sunday, page 66), Newcastle manager Steve Bruce will put pressure on Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta to make a decision on Joe Willock ahead of the new Premier League season.
The young Englishman, labelled as ‘amazing‘ by Allan Saint-Maximin, spent the second half of last season on loan at St James’ Park. He became a real star there, scoring in each of his last seven appearances for the Magpies in the league.
Bruce has been very vocal about his desire to re-sign Willock over the last two months. He has been trying really hard to convince Arsenal since the start of the transfer window, and it looks like he will not wait beyond the end of this week.
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Newcastle boss Bruce wants an answer from Arsenal about Joe Willock
The newspaper claims that Bruce will put pressure on Arsenal boss Arteta to make up his mind on Willock this week.
The new Premier League season is just over two weeks away, and it would make sense for Newcastle to have him back before the start of August at the very least.
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However, Arsenal are unlikely to make a firm decision any time soon.
Edu and Arteta are yet to sort out our own midfield. Granit Xhaka, Ainsley Mailand-Niles and Willock’s futures are all up in the air. We’ve signed Albert Sambi Lokonga, but the Belgian alone will not be enough ahead of the new season.
It will be a big shock to see Arsenal offload all three of Xhaka, Maitland-Niles and Willock before we bring someone in. The latter arguably deserves an opportunity at the Emirates as well, but the chances of that happening look slim at the moment.
Newcastle will likely re-sign Willock on loan for the whole of next season.
It would be wise of Arsenal to extend his deal before sending him out again, but knowing our history with contracts, it won’t be a surprise to see us mess this up and lose him for a fraction of what he’s worth this time next year.
