Arsenal Roundup: German Defender Interest, Huge Update On Giroud’s Future And More
Dec 8, 2016 at 11:01 AM
After a slow start, Arsenal seems to be finally track as they’ve maintained consistency over the last few weeks. The Gunners only had one point from their opening two games of the season and Arsene Wenger was heavily criticized for not spending enough in the transfer window.
Wenger addressed key issues by signing Perez and Mustafi towards the end of transfer window. The Gunners have managed to eclipse their slow start as they remained unbeaten in the league post the opening day defeat, which made them genuine contenders for the title early in the season coupled with some good football in champions league, which saw them win the group after an impressive 4-1 victory away to Swiss champions FC Basel.
Here we look at all the important news involving Arsenal.
Premier League giants Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea are monitoring the progress of Roma defender Antonio Rudiger, according to reports in Italy.
Corriere dello Sport claims that the Premier League top clubs are keen to sign the German defender who has joined Roma last season from VFB Stuttgart last summer. The 23-year old is considered as one of the best young center backs in Europe and has a contract with Roma till 2020.
Liverpool and Arsenal target Riechedly Bazoer is set to leave Ajax next month, confirmed his manager. The 20-year old is one of the brightest prospects in Netherlands and have been constantly linked with a move to Premier League.
Having already managed 51 league appearances for Ajax, Bazoer was also strongly linked with Barcelona and Juventus. Ajax are keen to cash in on the youngster as they are eager to sell him.
Ajax boss Peter Bosz, who left the 20-year old out of squad, said :”After talks with Riechedly I assume there is a big chance that he is not with this team anymore after the winter break.
“Against Standard I want to play young players so they can get used to this international level.”
Alexis Sanchez is set to be offered a massive £400,000-per-week if he moves to Chinese Super League from Arsenal, according to Daily Mail.
The move would see him become one of the top earners in the game. With increasing speculation over his future at Arsenal, Sanchez is one of the big prospects available in the market as he has only 18 months left in his contract.
Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud will not leave the club in January transfer window, confirmed his agent. Giroud has been regulated to bench for most of the season so far as Wenger preferred to have Alexis Sanchez as his central forward.
“I have never entered into contact with Italian clubs,” the 30-year-old’s representative, Michael Manuello, said before the Basel game.
“Olivier feels really good at Arsenal. He’s going to finish the season here. Nothing is possible in January for Olivier. He has no intention of moving during the winter transfer window.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that the team would be less guilty even if they get tough draw after finishing the Champions League group ahead of PSG.
The Gunners have the chance to clash with the likes of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the round of 16 despite finishing first in the group as they will learn their fate on the Champions League draw on Monday.
Wenger told BT Sport: “We made a great result to be top of this group which is what we wanted.
“We did the job I think in a convincing way, we were mobile, we started very well, we scored goals on all our accelerations and overall we had a convincing performance.”
“It’s difficult to know [the advantages of finishing top] — you feel a bit less guilty. If you have a bad draw [it can be] when you’re first or second. At least we have done our job and let’s see what happens.”