ARSENAL are ready to sign Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo on loan for the rest of the season to ease their midfield crisis, SunSport can exclusively reveal.
The Gunners are desperately short of options in the heart of midfield, especially after Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny left for AFCON duty.
Mikel Arteta is a big fan of the 25-year-old, and has been keeping tabs on him over the last few seasons.
Meanwhile the Gunners have requested the postponement of their match with Tottenham, leaving their North London rivals furious.
In other transfer news, the Gunners are set for a battle for the return of Aaron Ramsey, with Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Everton all interested in the Welsh midfielder.
And we’ve the very latest on the Gunners interest in both Youri Tielemens and Fiorentina’s Dusan Vlahovic.
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Gabon confirm Auba absence
Gabon chiefs say Pierre-Emerick-Aubameyang will miss their AFCON tie with Ghana due to ‘Cardiac lesions’.
The Gunners’ frontman, Axel Meyé and Mario Lemina have lingering issues after fighting off Covid.
And Gabon are omitting them to avoid ‘taking any risks’.
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Auba out with ‘heart issue’ after Covid
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is sidelined with Covid-related ‘heart’ issues.
Gabon say the Arsenal striker, Nice midfielder Mario Lemina and Ittihad Tanger frontman Axel Meye will miss the AFCON clash with Ghana due to the same post-coronavirus problem.
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And here’s confirmation of Arsenal’s request…
Arsenal have officially asked the Prem to call off Sunday’s huge clash at Tottenham – and alerted their fans to their action on social media.
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Gunners ask Prem to postpone Spurs clash
Arsenal have asked the Premier League to postpone Sunday’s derby at Tottenham.
The Gunners have seen numbers decimated by injury, suspensions and positive coronavirus tests.
And big rivals Spurs are not happy with the appeal going in just 48 hours before the crunch clash.
The two teams were scheduled to face off on Sunday, with a 4.30pm kick-off.
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Gunners ‘priced out of Vlahovic bid’
Arsenal target Dusan Vlahovic looks set to stay at Fiorentina – with clubs struggling to meet his £58million price tag.
Emirates boss Mikel Arteta is one of a number of managers looking at the exciting Serb striker while Spurs, Juventus and Inter Milan are also interested.
But Fiorentina are playing hardball and are refusing to budge even though the player only has 18 months left on his contract.
Vlahovic is an attractive option, having scored 20 times for Fiorentina this season as well as 21 goals in 37 Serie A games last term.
Fiorentina president Rocco Commisso has lashed out at Vlahovic’s agents as tensions increase.
Vlahovic is refusing to sign a new contract and Commisso said: “The more I live here, with this crazy sport, the more I realise how screwed up it is.”
Fiorentina have offered Vlahovic a five-year contract worth £34m but if he moved to the Premier League, he would demand £15m-a-season.
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Bukayo doubt vs Spurs
Boss Mikel Arteta isn’t sure whether winger Bukayo Saka will be fit to play in Arsenal’s Sunday derby at Tottenham.
Saka hobbled off late in the Gunners draw with Liverpool last night and Arteta can’t confirm if the winger will be ready for action against the club’s bitter rivals.
Arteta siad: “He felt something in the last minutes, he was really fatigued.
“I don’t know. He’s a young boy and he recovers really quickly.
“But he’s played a lot of minutes in the last few months so let’s see who is available.”
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Your not sure to stay
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers has accepted that Gunners transfer target Youri Tielemans may be leaving the club.
Rodgers said, reported by talkSPORT: “He is at an age and at a stage in his contract where he has to ensure he looks at every option.
“I would love it to be here at Leicester, that is natural, but I understand it’s a very short career.
“For players it’s about ambition, the challenge and sometimes it’s about a different environment. We have seen it before many times.”
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‘He cannot be Tony Adams’
Arteta has praised Ben White for having something special but claims he’ll never be ‘Tony Adams’.
Speaking to Arsenal.com about White, Arteta said: “He’s not Tony [Adams] and he cannot be Tony.
“He’s just moved to our club and he’s just been here just for a few months but he has something and he wants to do it.
“He’s very demanding with himself, he’s really willing to learn and improve his game and he’s in the right place.”
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‘We’ll be resilient’
Arteta reckons Arsenal’s youngsters will take some strength from yesterday’s draw with Liverpool into the North London Derby against Spurs this weekend.
He said to the club’s website: “Well it certainly gives them the experience that they are able to do that.
“That resilience to do what they did last night is based on your spirit, your belief and the fact that you’re never going to give up, and take on any challenge that is facing you – and do you best.
“Sometimes you have to still extend that and against the team that we played last night, that was necessary.
“I think we are in the right direction. Yesterday we had to play an extremely difficult match, 70 minutes with 10 men.
“But I saw a lot of leadership on that pitch from very young players and that gives me a lot of encouragement because they understood what was needed, they were up for the challenge and they showed a real fight and resilience to do what they did.”
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‘Spurs game may get cancelled’
Arteta still doesn’t know if Sunday’s North London derby will go ahead as the Arsenal boss continues to struggle to string a team together.
The club are in discussions with the Premier League as they wait for further fitness updates ahead of the trip to Tottenham.
With four players away at the African Cup of Nations, Granit Xhaka suspended plus injury and Covid concerns surrounding another seven, Arsenal are now right on the borderline of the minimum 13 players plus a goalkeeper required to play a Premier League game.
The club is expected to wait for further updates tomorrow before any final decision is taken over whether to submit a formal request for the game to be postponed.
Arteta said: “I don’t know if the game will be off.”
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Arteta hails White and Gabriel chemistry
Arteta has hailed Arsenal defenders White and Gabriel for the chemistry they’ve built since being at the club.
Speaking before the Gunners take on Spurs this weekend, Arteta said: “Then those personalities as well, that chemistry has to exist [between White and Gabriel].
“We can see they really enjoy playing together, you can see that, that chemistry is there and that’s a massive extra when you are looking to build something at the back.”
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‘Haller would be good for Arsenal”
Rio Ferdinand has urged Arsenal to consider signing Ajax striker Sebastien Haller.
The Gunners are in the prowl for a new striker and Ferdinand reckons Haller could provide them with the goals they need.
While speaking on his FIVE podcast about Arsenal’s potential attacking transfer targets, the Man United legend said: “I reckon Haller would be good for you lot.”
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Allegri coy on Arthur future
Juve boss Max Allegri has refused to reveal if he’s willing to let Arthur Melo join Arsenal.
But Allegri did suggest he plans to hold on to all his players to help Juve finish in the Serie A’s top four, and compete for the Champions League and domestic cup.
When asked about the Brazil ace’s future by Football Italia, Allegri said: “I don’t want to repeat myself. We have to get to the end of the season with these players in the best possible way.
“This means trying to reach the top four and go ahead in the Champions League and Coppa Italia.”
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Arsenal ready to sign Arthur
Arsenal are ready to sign Arthur on loan for the rest of the season to ease their midfield crisis.
The Gunners are looking to help fill the position with a number of injuries, Covid problems and Thomas Partey at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Mikel Arteta is a big fan of the 25-year-old, and has been keeping tabs on him over the last few seasons.
SunSport understands Juventus are happy for the Brazilian to leave, but want to sign a replacement first.
He is ready to fly in next week and sign until the summer if the move is given the go ahead.
There has already been talks over the loan between the two clubs and the ex-Barcelona stars agent.
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Sheringham labels North London derby ‘average’
Tottenham icon Teddy Sheringham has dismissed the North London derby between Spurs and Arsenal as an ‘average game.’
The Gunners and Spurs face each other on the weekend but Sheringham doesn’t expect much from the Prem clash.
He said to talkSPORT: “For me, it’s two average teams fighting out the north London derby. And whoever performs best on the day will probably take the points.”
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Gunners receive Tielemans transfer boost
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers has accepted that Gunners transfer target Tielemans may be leaving the club.
Rodgers said, reported by talkSPORT: “He is at an age and at a stage in his contract where he has to ensure he looks at every option.
“I would love it to be here at Leicester, that is natural, but I understand it’s a very short career.
“For players it’s about ambition, the challenge and sometimes it’s about a different environment. We have seen it before many times.”
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‘Wijnaldim should join Gunners’
Ian Rush can see why Arsenal want Wijnaldum and has urged the former Liverpool star to join the Gunners instead of Newcastle.
He told Gambling.com: “I notice Gini Wijnaldum being linked with a move to Arsenal this week and I can see why, it makes sense.
“He’s not playing regularly in Paris but he’d definitely get more game time at Arsenal, who could use a bit of experience to complement what is already a good but young side.
“That little bit of extra experience would add something to their midfield.
“They could face some competition from Gini’s old club Newcastle though, who have a new-found wealth, and a lot of football decisions come down to money these days.
“If he does end up going back to Newcastle, you’d have to assume he’s only going there for financial reasons because they look like they’ll be playing Championship football next season.
“Arsenal would be a much better move for him in my opinion, even if it’s on lesser wages.”
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Arsenal have recalled Miguel Azeez from his loan spell at Portsmouth.
The 19-year-old joined Pompey on a season-long loan last summer but his spell away has been cut short by the Gunners, the Daily Mail report.
It’s likely Aterta’s side have brought Azeez back to help deal with Arsenal’s midfield crisis which was exacerbated by Xhaka’s red card against Liverpool last night.
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Saka Spurs injury doubt
Arteta isn’t sure whether Saka will be fit to play in Arsenal’s clash with Spurs on the weekend.
Saka hobbled off late in the Gunners draw with Liverpool last night and Arteta can’t confirm if the winger will be ready for action against the club’s bitter rivals.
Arteta siad: “He felt something in the last minutes, he was really fatigued.
“I don’t know. He’s a young boy and he recovers really quickly.
“But he’s played a lot of minutes in the last few months so let’s see who is available.”
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Piers Morgan blasts Xhaka
Piers Morgan has ripped into Granit Xhaka for his red card against Liverpool last night.
Xhaka was quickly forgiven by his Arsenal peers for the offence but Piers wasn’t in the mood to do the same.
He raged on Twitter: “Every time I start to warm to Xhaka, he does something to remind me he is an unreliable hot-headed d***head.
“It’s taken years… and we’re talking lukewarm.”
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Arthur Melo latest
Arsenal will have to buy Arthur Melo permanently from Juventus if they want the Brazilian.
The 25-year-old midfielder has emerged as one of Mikel Arteta’s top targets during the January transfer window.
The Gunners are desperately short of midfield options and need reinforcements.
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Arteta on Liverpool
The Arsenal boss said after his team bravely held Liverpool with 10-men for 66 mins last night: “When you come to a stadium like this, I said to them you have to pick players who are happy to go to war with, going to fight.
“You are going to have difficult moments when you suffer. It is about how you approach those moments.
“If you are willing to help your team, willing to accept that in some moments you are not going to play the game you want then good things are going to happen.
“When you play with that spirit, fight and brotherhood around the team, in the end you get rewarded. That is what happened.”
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Spurs game at risk latest
Due to injury and illness the Gunners’ squad could be as small as 12 heading into the match – leaving the fixture in danger of being called off.
Speaking about that possibility after the Liverpool game, Arteta said: “It is a possibility in every game.
“From our side, from the opponent’s side, because of the amount of issues everyone is having and because it is happening every week.
“We try to prepare games thinking we are going to play.”
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Spurs game at RISK
Mikel Arteta has revealed the North London derby could be called off as Arsenal are without a host of players for the clash with Spurs.
The Gunners, who were reduced to 10 men midway through the first half of their match with Liverpool when Granit Xhaka was dismissed, valiantly earned themselves a goalless draw in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final at Anfield last night.
