Arsenal forever

Following medical tests, Piero Hincapié leaves Ecuador camp and returns to London with immediate effect.
Arsenal defender will be assessed by staff this upcoming week.

Fabrizio Romano

Do you think going for a young striker is the right decision? 🤔

🚨 Transfer Rumors: Arsenal are interested in signing Moroccan international Brahim Díaz from Real Madrid. 🇲🇦⚽

Reports suggest the Gunners are stepping up their interest ahead of the next transfer window, with Mikel Arteta a known admirer.

An offer in the region of €35m plus bonuses is being prepared, although figures of up to €45m could be required to get the deal done.

Gabriel Jesus would prefer to stay in Europe than return to Palmeiras. ()

How much do you think Arsenal would get for him ?

Walcott is all in on the Gyökeres hype! 🔥

The former Gunner suggests that if Viktor brings his international form to North London for the run-in, the title is staying at the Emirates. "The guy showed qualities we haven’t fully seen yet—his capabilities are on another level." 🇸🇪✈️🔴

🗣️| Nigel Winterburn on Arsenal & Kvicha Kvaratskhelia rumours: “When we start throwing names around, we start to assume they'd want to join Arsenal. You have to be very, very careful.

“I don't know how far we want to go back but let's go halfway through the season, I'd say Trossard was the wide player in form, with the most goals, I think and most assists or chances created. He switched a bit with Martinelli, who had that unbelievable run of scoring in four-five games.

“Trossard was injured and I don't think he's come back to his highest level. Martinelli is in and out of the team.

“I suppose you'd say that if Arsenal are looking at upgrading a position, then it would be on that left hand side. That's not hiding from the fact or saying that the other two aren't good. They are good players but you're asking ‘would the club be looking at someone who can take it to the next level’?

“I think Mikel Arteta and the club would say that we're doing that with every position. Certain positions would be very hard to upgrade but you keep looking and keep trying because if the window opens for you to get somebody, you go ahead and take it.

“Kvaratskhelia, boy oh boy, if he knocked on the door and said I want to come to Arsenal, I don't think many people would say, 'no, thank you'. I think they'd be saying, 'if we can afford you, come on in'.” .

Who is your dream signing?

🚨JUST IN: Arsenal are reportedly preparing a €35m package to sign Brahim Díaz, with Mikel Arteta keen to pair him creatively with Martin Ødegaard to unlock deep defences.

However, Real Madrid are not actively looking to sell and could demand up to €45m, despite the player entering the final year of his contract next summer.

This would be a bold but debatable strategy.

Source: ( TEAMtalk )

🎙 When asked if giving Simón a full game against Serbia confirms him as Spain’s first-choice goalkeeper, De La Fuente responded......

🗣‘I don’t have to reaffirm Unai’s place.

‘It would be unfair if we didn’t value Unai’s quality, class, career, and professional experience. It would be absurd for me to have to come here and reaffirm it, just because he’s Unai Simon. When a goalkeeper is at this level, you have to respect his standing and his career.

‘Besides, we have David Raya, who I’m eager for you to ask me about. In England, they consider him the best goalkeeper in the world, and here nobody talks about him.

‘The same goes for Joan Garcia and Alex Remiro, let’s be fair. But Unai Simon is indisputable. The others have a lot of talent and class, but everything in its own time.

‘We haven’t changed the goalkeepers because we understand that they are special positions and need to be treated differently, but I insist that we have three other impressive goalkeepers besides Unai.’

🇪🇨 Piero Hincapie with a couple of fans 🤩

It's not looking good for noni

Mikel Arteta's press conference 👇
Not long after touching down in Germany before our Champions League round of 16 first leg at Bayer Leverkusen, Mikel Arteta was whisked to the BayArena to meet with the media.

He answered questions on injuries and team selection, Kai Havertz's return to his former club, talk of the quadruple, gaining experience in the competition and much more.

Here is everything he had to say:

on if the messaging to the players changes now we’re in the knockouts:

Yes, you start the second part of the campaign and you know what is at stake. We start to play games where you are in or you are out, there is no margin for manoeuvre, and we're going to face a very difficult contest tomorrow against a really good team.

on if Martin Odegaard is out:

He’s out.

on if Riccardo Calafiori and Leandro Trossard are available:

Those two are a possibility that they are available, and we'll see tomorrow.

on whether Gabriel and William Saliba are back:

Yes.

on if Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi will also return:

Yes.

on if he challenges the players to win every game in the Champions League:

The only thing you can take is game by game and try tomorrow to be better than the opposition and earn the right to win.

We always talk about that. Obviously we play so many games in different competitions - in the next three games we're going to play in three different competitions, against completely different opponents. You have to adapt to that.

You have to, very early in the match, understand what the game is going to require, adapt to it and be better than them.

on why Myles Lewis-Skelly has played more in Europe than the Premier League:

Every season is different. He’s had very good moments in the season, he’s had other moments when he hasn't played that much.

Obviously a few days ago in the FA Cup he was suspended and he could not play so there are various reasons. Sometimes as well, the good form of your teammates is another factor that contributes to that, but he's doing well.

on if we have established ourselves in the knockout phase of this competition:

I believe so, but this is football and you have to show it tomorrow night. I know that you have to be so clear what the game is going to demand, you need to perform on the day.

The Champions League is about the day and within that day there are moments, and you have to be better than the opponent.

on if the players are better prepared:

They certainly have more experience in the competition. When I joined, there was a big part of the team that hadn’t played in this competition.

That's obviously something that is necessary like in any other competition and they understand it better. Now we have to perform.

on if we’ve learnt more from last season’s semi-final run:

Yes, you learn about the things that you did well and the reason why you are there, and the things that you can improve.

But then every game and every time will be so specific that it's so difficult to replicate. You can have certain memories, but actually, you have to apply your learnings in that moment, and that window is very small, so you have to be efficient.

on if he encourages the players to think about a potential quadruple:

No, I don't use that phrase. I don't know what they talk about when I'm not there. But we all know the difficulty of every competition.

Starting tomorrow, we are changing from competition to competition every three days, and so far we've done so well and we need to continue to do that.

on how much he saw of Kai Havertz at Bayer Leverkusen:

Not too much to be fair because in our league and with the amount of games that we play we don't have much time to analyse an individual player in a different country.

But I did speak to him, he spent 10 incredible years here. The way he talks about the club, the people here, the culture, what he's learned and how hard this journey was for him to continue his next chapter in England was capital.

A lot of learnings and I'm glad to see how people are receiving him the moment he's walking around the building, and I'm not surprised.

on how confident we are with his fitness:

Now it's been three weeks that he’s had total consistency in terms of training, preparation and gametime, and we're going to continue to roll that because we know how Kai can impact this team.

on what it’s been like to manage this period of injuries for Kai:

It's been something new for him. When you look at his injury record, it’s just blank. He never had a muscle injury and last year he had his hamstring injury that required surgery and then the knee injury, so it's been a tough period.

But as well a lot of great things happened in his private life as well. When you talk about a 15-20 year career, you're going to have to go unfortunately, most likely, through these moments.

If there is a person that has the right combination of humbleness, patience and love for the game and a competitive edge, that's certain Kai.

He had difficult moments but that's why we are here and all his teammates and family are there. Now he needs to really enjoy all the work that he's put in to see the results at the end of the season.

on the viral clip of Mikel and Declan Rice in training earlier today:

They very gently suggested that we have to go through [the tunnel] because of something that happened a few days ago. It was a bit of banter, a bit of fun and they were right to do it.

on the impact of fun within training sessions:

It's the interaction that we have with the players. We as staff love working with them. I think that feeling is from both sides because they know how much we care about them.

The level of demand goes very closely with the level of support that they get. I think the better that connection is, the bigger the chance is to achieve what we want.

on if that shows the camaraderie and togetherness in this team:

That's a part that you probably can see, but there is so much that is going on every single day. Some beautiful moments, some others that are very tough as well.

The objective that we have is clear. We have a fantastic group of people to do it and obviously a fantastic group of players.

on if he believes we can go the distance:

I live in the present and I prepare for what I expect and what I feel every single day with optimism.

Putting everything that I have in, and trying to transmit and inspire those players to feel the same way. And then this is football.

We have to do it. There is so much to do.

There is a lot that we have done, but the important part is coming now and it starts tomorrow.

on if he’s spoken to his friend Xabi Alonso about what to expect:

I didn't want to put him in that position, I don’t think it would have been fair. Obviously I have spoken a lot and I admire incredibly what he did for this football club and the group of players because it was something historic and unique.

But no, I haven't had the courage to speak to him and put him in that situation because I know how he is feeling about the club, and as well because I think we have two players as well that have been with this club recently, with this team and they’ve given us quite a lot of information.

Edited for you from www.arsenal.com

Bayer Leverkusen vs Arsenal
Kick off @ 17:45 UK time

Arsenal team to face Mansfield Town (Kick off @ 12:15 UK time)
Mansfield team in comments 👇