arsenal news

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is planning a major title push this season and the boss is aware of the need to bring in only the best to achieve his target. Wenger himself confirmed he would sign only “top players” in winter, and this has seen the club linked to an avalanche of star players in recent weeks According to reports the claim Arsenal have been keeping tabs on Napoli’ defensive midfielder Jorginho, and agent Joao Santos believes they are serious in doing business in January. Arsenal are seriously in need of a defensive midfielder after losing Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla who have been very brilliant in holding the defense and coordinating the midfield.

Karim Benzema remains the striker Arsene Wenger would most like to sign for Arsenal but the club has no expectation of being able to bring him to The Emirates this summer as Real Madrid will not offer any encouragement for a bid. Wenger tried to sign Benzema in 2013, when the striker was their primary target before they were offered Mesut Ozil but failed then.  And it is understood that Benzema, 27, is one of President Florentino Perez’s favourite players and therefore extremely unlikely to be sold. Real Madrid manager Rafa Benitez would only countenance his sale if an equivalent standard striker, such as Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero, could be signed and that isn’t on Real’s agenda at present. Arsenal have not ruled out the possibility of bringing in a striker to supplement their squad in the five weeks of the transfer window but given that Benzema is not available their assessment is that there are very few strikers of that quality around. Wenger has ru

Former England goalkeeper David James claims Arsenal should have signed Asmir Begovic ahead of £10million man Petr Cech. Cech, 33, has penned a four-year deal with the north London giants, with many in the game believing the transfer has turned Arsene Wenger's men into genuine title challengers. However, James feels the Gunners made the wrong move by signing Cech, and instead should have gone for Begovic, who has now replaced the Czech goalkeeper as Chelsea's No 2.           He told the Alan Brazil Breakfast show :  'Petr Cech is a very good goalkeeper but he's not at his best. At 33 years of age, there's nothing to say he can't get back to his best form though. 'If he does then Arsenal still have one hell of a goalkeeper, but Chelsea have still got a very large sum of money for a 33-year-old with one year left on his deal. 'They have gone out and bought (Asmir) Begovic, who was sought after by many big clubs in the last two

  Arsenal are reportedly keeping tabs on Real Madrid midfielder Asier Illarramendi according to Sky Sports . The 24 year old hasn’t been a regular since moving to the Bernabeu in a £29m deal in the summer of 2013 and is apparently a target of his former club Real Sociedad. One imagines a move to the Emirates Stadium may prove more tempting for the Spanish international given that David Moyes’ side are in the bottom half of La Liga and Illara is arguably an ideal Gunners target. The Real Madrid man offers the qualities of a defensive midfielder though is also very comfortable on the ball and could provide some much needed steel in the middle of the park. Currently Wenger relies upon the likes of Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini and most recently Francis Coquelin for the role but Illarramendi is a big step up in terms of quality. In his first season in the Spanish capital Illara battled Xabi Alonso for a regular starting berth and this term has seen Toni Kroos line up alo

The Gunners have beaten off competition from Manchester United to complete the signing of Villareal defender Gabriel Paulista. Arsene Wenger has openly admitted his desire to sign the 24-year-old from the La Liga outfit, however, the deal took a wrong turn when it was reported that Louis van Gaal’s United were also tracking the player with a desire to submit a bid before the end of the January window. But now, according to the latest reports at the Metro , the Gunners have won the race to sign the £15million-rated defender and the deal is just hours away from completion. Paulista’s arrival would be the clubs second of the window following the transfer of 17-year-old Polish midfielder Kyrstian Bielik on Wednesday. French manager Aresene Wenger also stated that defensive midfielder Francis Coquelin, who was imperative during the Gunners 2-0 win over champions Manchester City last weekend, is close to sign

  Arsenal attacker Joel Campbell may be set for an Emirates Stadium exit with talk of a possible move heightened by the fact that the Costa Rican international was absent from the club’s training session on Saturday morning according to the Daily Mail. The 22 year old has spent the past three seasons out on loan but following a superb spell at Olympiakos, followed by a strong showing at the 2014 World Cup finals, Arsene Wenger elected to usher in the youngster to his Gunners first team squad. However first team action has proven next to impossible to secure and as such Campbell must be considering his options. Campbell hasn’t started a single Premier League game and is now the subject of interest from a raft of sides including Villarreal, Benfica, Inter Milan, Swansea City and West Bromwich Albion. This source suggests that Real Sociedad boss David Moyes is ready to offer £8m for the Arsenal man, an offer that Wenger may consider. Wenger can probably afford to cons

  Arsene Wenger has revealed that the players in his team influenced him to change tactics for the game against Manchester City. Arsenal went to the Etihad Stadium and came away with a much hailed and needed 2-0 win that put a stop to the constant losses to big teams that the gunners have been suffering for the past few years. The main focus of the win was defensive solidity, and the way the entire team was together in the goal of not allowing any of City’s creative players any space was especially heartening to see. In the past, Arsene stuck true to his principles irrespective of which opposition it was, and so the Arsenal fans have had to suffer heavy defeats to the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, City and Manchester United. But with this performance, it is likely to change Arsene’s mind, given that he tried the same against the game against Chelsea. Regarding the change in tactics, Arsene said it was the players that had requested it and he acc