arsenal news

Bacary Sagna looks set to be the next high-profile Arsenal player to leave the North London club. There are reports circulating that the France right back feels ‘disrespected’ by the Gunners’ offer of a 12-month extension to his deal that expires in 2014. He has told team-mates he expects to leave the beleaguered club at the end of the season. Arsenal are refusing to improve Sagna’s  current wage of £60,000 a week and given he is turning 30 in a couple of months’ time; this is likely to be the defender’s last chance at a lucrative contract. You would be hard pressed to find an Arsenal player who deserves a wage increase at the moment but the club’s decision not to offer a long-term deal is believed to be linked to his injury problems, having suffered two broken legs in the last year. Sagna angered his manager Arsene Wenger this season after publicly criticising the club for selling Robin van Persie and Alex Song during the summer. In other Arsenal contract issu

Despite the transfer window being closed, there is always transfer gossip doing the rounds in the papers and we’ll keep you up-to-date with the latest news during the coming months. Today, Arsenal and Chelsea are linked with Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa. Arsenal are leading Chelsea in the race to sign Montpellier captain Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, according to the  Metro . Gunners boss  Arsene Wenger  is a long-term admirer of the defenders and tried to land him in the summer, but the defender decided to remain with Montpellier and lead the club out in the  Champions League  this season. However, having been drawn in the same group as Arsenal, the Ligue 1 champions have crashed out at the first hurdle and Wenger is set to renew his interest in January. Chelsea and AC Milan have also shown interest in the 23-year-old but the Gunners are believed to be the front-runners and enjoy a good relationship with Montpellier after signing Olivier Giroud in the summer. The French outfit were adamant th

Swansea have been handed a home tie against Arsenal in the FA Cup in this afternoon's draw for the third round. The two sides met in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday and the south Wales outfit increased the pressure of Gunners boss Arsene Wenger as they ran out 2-0 winners at the Emirates Stadium. All third-round ties will take place on the weekend of the 5/6 January.

Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has suffered a heart attack and is recovering in hospital. The 76-year-old's heart attack followed a bout of pneumonia, the club said. A statement from Arsenal read: "Peter was taken ill at home on Friday and is currently being treated in hospital. He is making a good recovery. "The club wishes Peter a full and speedy return to health and our thoughts are with him and his family at this time." Hill-Wood has been chairman of the club since 1982, and is a former vice-chairman of the Hambros Bank. He is the third member of his family to serve as Arsenal chairman, following on from his father Denis (1962-1982) and his grandfather Samuel, who had two separate spells in the role between 1929 and 1936 and from 1946 to 1949. Read more at  http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/182071.html#GUJJy1d5UfPRwZLx.99

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has told reporters that he will consider his future at the club next summer leaving many to speculate about a possible approach for Pep Guardiola. Wenger’s side lost 2-0 to Swansea City on Saturday at home and have made their worst start to a Premier League season since the 63-year-old took over and Wenger said he was unsure over his future. “At the moment I am not in the mood to think about the long-term future. We want to do well this season, that’s all. I am an Arsenal man. I think I have always shown that,” he said. “I have to consider if I do well or not. If I don’t do well, I have to consider my future. “I have been at the club long enough to have confidence in the people I work with, but I will assess my own performances and then make a decision, at the moment we are not there.” Wenger’s self-doubt will have the club’s fans speculating aswell as media sources and one rumour that has been already mentioned is the possible approach for for

I wrote on Friday that Arsenal`s recent away draws would be better judged in the light of proceeding home results. I think we can agree that that went well. Pre match I watched Chelsea`s malaise beamed back onto the Arsenal Tavern screens, their despair burned onto LCD display for a crowd of cheering patrons. Usually Chelsea`s misery is my meat, but somehow I felt to delight in their plight would be premature. Arsene made some changes to the side that drew with Goodison on a bitterly cold day in North London. Carl Jenkinson and Kieran Gibbs came in for the injured Laurent Koscielny and Bacary Sagna. Lukas Podolski came back from illness and was awarded his chance as a centre forward, with Gervinho and Walcott flanking him. I think the idea was that the front three would form a liquid, interchanging unit. It ended up looking more of a grey sludge of inertia. Neither of the three, as individuals or as a collective, produced much for the Swans defence to trouble themselves with. Th