After a somewhat underwhelming loan spell at Brighton & Hove Albion, Ansu Fati is all set to return to Camp Nou.
Fati returns to Barcelona on the back of a spell that saw him appear in only 500 minutes of Premier League football. Injuries and lack of game-time were once again a factor in stifling the attacker’s growth at Brighton.
However, as Fati looks forward to the idea of returning to Barcelona, the attacker is upbeat about his chances.
Fati is hopeful of succeeding at Barça
In a recent interaction with Mundo Deportivo, Ansu Fati expressed his desire to succeed at Barcelona, despite a poor loan spell at Brighton & Hove Albion.
“My plan is clear, I want to succeed at Barcelona,” the forward said (h/t Fabrizio Romano).
Fati’s comments came just a week after he bid farewell to Brighton, as he thanked the fans and Roberto De Zerbi, a former coaching candidate at Barcelona.
Will Fati succeed under Flick?
Fati’s hopes of succeeding at Barcelona could be renewed by the arrival of Hansi Flick as head coach.
The German tactician is known for his tendency to give everyone the opportunity to perform at the highest level. Keeping that in mind, he is likely to assess each and every player at Barcelona heading into the new season.
However, Fati’s chances of succeeding at Barcelona could be impacted by his poor injury record, coupled with the club’s economic despair.
Indeed, Barcelona’s economic woes mean that the club will face pressure to offload the Spaniard in the coming summer. He has no shortage of suitors either, with at least three Spanish clubs interested in his services.
Barcelona youngster Ansu Fati has today moved to make clear beyond any shadow of doubt his plans for next season.
Wide-man Ansu, for his part, is of course fresh off an altogether underwhelming loan stint away from Catalunya’s capital.
After making the move to England with Brighton & Hove Albion, a combination of fitness problems and lack of form culminated in a paltry haul of just three Premier League starts.
Such woes had given rise to widespread reports that Ansu had not done enough to convince the Blaugrana brass of his readiness to contribute with the club next season.
With a new manager and coaching staff on the way, and an entirely new sporting project under construction, however, the 21-year-old, evidently, sees a chance to prove himself back with his parent club.
And this is an opportunity which Ansu does not intend to allow to slip through his grasp…
As part of an interview with Mundo Deportivo, the Spanish international was drawn on his hopes for next season.
And Ansu did not hesitate, in responding:
“I’m 100% ready. People think I’m injured but I’m fine – I spend a lot of time in the gym.
“My plan is clear. I want to succeed at Barcelona.”
Report: Thomas Partey set to depart Arsenal at the end of the season.
According to reports, Arsenal is ready to sell midfielder Thomas Partey once the 2023-24 season comes to a close.
The 30-year-old joined the Gunners from Atletico Madrid, a prominent La Liga club, in October 2020 for a transfer fee of £45m. Since then, he has made 104 appearances for Arsenal in England.
However, Partey has faced significant limitations in terms of playing time this season due to various injury concerns. His last appearance for Mikel Arteta’s team dates back to October.
The Ghana international has been struggling with a long-term thigh injury, resulting in him only playing four Premier League matches this season and participating in just 251 minutes of top-flight football.
According to The Mirror, Arsenal is now considering allowing Partey to leave North London at the end of the current term, even though his contract is not set to expire in the summer.
The report suggests that the Gunners are becoming increasingly frustrated with the midfielder’s ongoing injury problems, which have caused him to miss the majority of the campaign so far. It is believed that Arteta was initially open to the idea of Partey leaving during the summer transfer window, as he believed he had enough options in the midfield department.
The summer transfer window saw the North Londoners make significant changes to their midfield, acquiring Declan Rice from West Ham United and Kai Havertz from Chelsea.
Despite Arsenal’s efforts to find suitable offers for Partey, they were unable to secure a move for the 30-year-old, resulting in him remaining at the club and spending a considerable amount of time in the medical room this season.
Juventus had shown interest in signing Partey during the January transfer window, but ultimately decided against it due to concerns about his injury history. However, there is a possibility that the Serie A giants may revisit their interest in the summer, especially if Partey becomes a Premier League champion under the guidance of Arteta.
Following a crucial 3-1 victory over league leaders Liverpool, Arsenal now find themselves just two points behind Jurgen Klopp’s side. It was initially anticipated that Partey would make his return to the team this month after a lengthy spell on the sidelines. However, Arteta recently provided an update on the Ghanaian’s condition ahead of the Liverpool match, which raised concerns about his availability.
Arsenal manager Arteta expressed his disappointment regarding Thomas (Partey)’s recent setback, stating, “Regrettably, we encountered a minor setback with Thomas a few days ago.” Arteta clarified that he is not a medical professional, but Thomas experienced discomfort in a similar region and was unable to participate in training over the past few days.
Thierry Henry’s presence as France U21 head coach could prove beneficial for Arsenal in the long run, and one of the first players the Gunners legend could help them to sign is one of the most promising young midfielders in the world game.
Henry holds a deep and lasting connection to the Emirates club, where he is the all-time record scorer, and given the opportunity, he will surely push any young talent the way of Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.
One particular player that he holds clear admiration for is PSG sensation Warren Zaire-Emery, who at 17 years old has already been handed the France U21 captaincy by Henry.
PROFILE: Who is Warren Zaire-Emery? All you need to know about the PSG starlet
“It’s truly astonishing what he can do at the moment. We can talk about his strength and his physique, but his vision… understanding the game, how he positions himself, the desire he has…” Henry told L’Equipe.
“With the captain’s armband, I wanted to know what he has in his stomach. He showed me in two matches that he is an exceptional player.”
Even amid PSG’s capitulation in the Champions League against Newcastle, the former Arsenal hitman was impressed.
“Unfortunately his team collapsed, but not him,” he said. “His maturity, what he manages to do, to understand at his age, it’s just not normal! Let’s be happy to have a French player like that.”
Zaire-Emery’s incredible explosion
The terms that Zaire-Emery is being spoken of echo those words regarding Jude Bellingham. The young Englishman has heard such things about his game since his days at Birmingham, but he has backed it up with his performances at Borussia Dortmund and now Real Madrid.
Bellingham, it should be stressed, is a different player to Zaire-Emery. Whereas the 20-year-old has rapidly shown his capabilities in the final third at the Bernabeu with a series of match-winning goals, Zaire-Emery typically operates deeper in the field and is unlikely to be so decisive – at least in terms of scoring.
But France are already considering ushering him into the international set up as the era of Paul Pogba, facing a four-year doping ban, and N’Golo Kante is over
“He is a serious candidate to have a role in midfield given his incredible maturity,” Didier Deschamps said as he named his France team to face Netherlands and Scotland in the October international break.
Deschamps has previously named Bellingham’s Real Madrid clubmate Eduardo Camavinga in the squad at the age of 17 years and 9 months. There is still time for Zaire-Emery to beat that post-war record.
PSG, meanwhile, is not recognised as a club where young players typically hang about.
Although they are trying to change that reputation, it can only be positive for Arsenal that they have an influential figure championing Zaire-Emery and his career should he ever decide to leave Parc des Princes.
The 38 games seasons started in 1988/9, and thus there have now been 35 such campaigns.
Out of these 35 Arsenal have exceeded either 80 points or 80 goals in just eight campaigns – that is 34% of the time. Arsenal have exceeded 80 goals five times (that is in 14% of the seasons) and have exceeded 80 points six times (17% of the seasons).
Which shows us that this is rather a special moment. The only time the club has got over 80 goals and 80 points two seasons running, and indeed the only time Arsenal has exceeded the 80/80 mark other than 2004/5.
And let us not forget that this has come in a season where there were calls for the manager to learn how to rotate. Not only would that have been irrelevant even if it were true, the fact is that compared to other managers it wasn’t true. Some teams did rotate more, but when that happened it was because they had more injuries than Arsenal.
So to be clear, only three times in the PL era, (8% of the seasons) have Arsenal exceeded both 80 goals scored and 80 points gained. Two of those seasons have been the last two seasons.
As noted above the other season was 2004/5. But the Unbeaten Season does not qualify for 80/80 status since Arsenal scored only 73 goals that season but did get 90 points. In fact when Arsenal won the league in 1998 it was with just 68 goals scored! Goals and winning the title don’t always go hand in hand.
This last season’s 91 goals was Arsenal’s best ever, and the 28 conceded was second only to the 26 conceded in the unbeaten season. The goal difference of 62 is the best ever.
But what is particularly interesting here is that all this was achieved without the one thing that so many football correspondents in newspapers and the bloggers who hang on their coat tails have demanded: a top scorer knocking in 20 or more goals.
This season just completed, Arsenal’s top scorer in the league was Saka with 16. Last season it was Odegaard and Martinelli each with 15.
Eight players scored more than Arsenal’s top man this season just finished. Haaland (27), Palmer (Chelsea – 22), Isak (Newcastle – 21) Foden (Machester C – 19), Solanke (Bournemouth – 19), Watkins (Aston Villa – 19), Salah (Liverpool 18), Son (Tottenham – 17).
Given that Newcastle came 7th and Bournemouth 12th, that suggests that while a top-scoring player can be useful in the team, it is no guarantee of success. Yes, Manchester City do have two players in the top scoring list but they only scored five more goals than Arsenal across the whole 38-match season. That is 0.13 goals per game.
And the benefit of the system Arsenal have evolved of spreading the goals around can be seen by the injury and loss of form of Martinelli this past season.
If we consider the top five scorers for Arsenal in the league last season and this season just finished we can see a slight difference:
2023/4 – total 91 goals: Saka (16), Havertz (13), Trossard (12), Odegaard (8), Rice (7)
2022/3 – total 88 goals : Martinelli (15), Odegaard (15), Saka (14), Jesus (11), Xhaka (7)
So in 2023/4 the top five scorers for the club knocked in 49 goals in the league between them.
In 2022/23 the top five scorers for the club scored 62 goals in the league between them.
What we can see is that the shift is to an ever more diverse set of players scoring goals in league matches is working. The top five goal scorers got more goals this season than the one before. Nevertheless, the media constantly link Arsenal with a 20 + goals a season man: a total change of direction.
It is of course possible that Arsenal could suddenly change policy. And we could look back to when Arsenal across two league seasons scored 176 goals.
But as far as I can see only twice has Arsenal ever exceeded such a goal-scoring record in its entire league history. Both occasions were in the 1930s under Chapman, and that, we should remember, not only included four extra games a season but also a time when Arsenal could score 78 goals in a season and come 14th in the league.
Indeed three times in the 1930s Arsenal scored 115 goals or more in a season – but they were also letting in 59+ a season. It was a time when even though it was easier to catch players offside (as the rules were different) defending was in its infancy.
So to all intents and purposes, this is the best Arsenal attack ever, and it is built around not having a 20+ man leading the line, but on sharing out the goals.
Many are calling for Arsenal to sign a 20+ goals a-season player, but I really do think that would require a total change in the way the team plays, and that may not be a good idea.
Newcastle United midfielder Bruno Guimaraes is set to face Anthony Gordon as Brazil face England at Wembley Stadium.
Bruno Guimaraes is reportedly set to start for Brazil against England at Wembley Stadium on Saturday evening (7pm kick-off).
Guimaraes could face Newcastle United team-mate Anthony Gordon, who will be hoping to earn his first England cap in the friendly match.
And according to Globo Esporte, Guimaraes will be named in manager new Dorival Junior’s first ever Brazil starting line-up this weekend. Brazil have been preparing for the match at Arsenal’s training ground this week, where Dorival Junior outlined his starting line-up for the match. Guimaraes will start as part of a Premier League midfield trio alongside West Ham United’s Lucas Paqueta and Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Joao Gomes, who could make his senior debut for Brazil’s national team. Globo Esporte also mentioned Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz was ‘tested’ in the side in place of Joao Gomes during the session.
Newcastle are one of only four teams to have representatives in both camps heading into the match. Real Madrid (Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo), Tottenham Hotspur (Richarlison and James Maddison) and West Ham (Lucas Paqueta and Jarrod Bowen) are the other three.
On the prospect of playing against Gordon at Wembley, Guimaraes told reporters during a pre-match press conference: “No one at the club deserves to be in the England squad more than him, he has been unbelievable for us, always scoring and giving some assists. He deserves to be there and he’s a lovely guy as well so I’m very happy for him.
“I hope he can get some minutes in the England squad and for me, playing against him will be massive for us both and the club as well.
Napoli has just informed Arsenal that they are willing to sell Victor Osimhen to them, but there is a catch. Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, is not pleased with the condition attached to the deal. However, the Arsenal Sporting Director is determined not to miss out on the opportunity to sign this exceptional striker.
Napoli has expressed their willingness to sell Victor Osimhen to Arsenal, but there is a specific condition that comes with the deal. This condition has not pleased Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager.
Napoli has just informed Arsenal that they are willing to sell Victor Osimhen to them, but there is a catch. Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, is not pleased with the condition attached to the deal. However, the Arsenal Sporting Director is determined not to miss out on the opportunity to sign this exceptional striker.
Napoli has expressed their willingness to sell Victor Osimhen to Arsenal, but there is a specific condition that comes with the deal. This condition has not pleased Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager.
Nevertheless, the Arsenal Sporting Director is adamant about seizing the chance to acquire this world-class striker.
Reports suggest that Arsenal has been presented with a potential opportunity to secure the services of Napoli’s star player, Victor Osimhen.
However, this opportunity comes at a price. The Gunners, who have been in search of a striker, may have to consider this deal in either the upcoming January transfer window or the following summer window.
Kai Havertz was acquired as an alternative forward option, but Arteta opted to stick with Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus. However, this may change in January or next summer as Arsenal will likely require a prolific goalscorer to compete in major competitions, which is their ultimate goal.
There have been rumors linking Napoli’s superstar Osimhen to a potential departure next summer due to a dispute with club officials. Osimhen allegedly faced mockery on the club’s TikTok channel, leading to considerations of legal action. However, no concrete steps have been taken towards that direction yet.
In the meantime, Osimhen continues to represent Napoli, but reports suggest that the Italian club is preparing to offload him next summer, just a year after demanding a hefty sum of over £100 million from interested parties.
According to Calciomercato, Napoli would be open to selling Osimhen to Arsenal next summer, but under one condition that Arteta may be hesitant to fulfill.
It is reported that Napoli would require Gabriel Jesus as part of the deal, in addition to a significant transfer fee. This might pose a challenge for Arsenal, considering they only paid £50 million for Jesus, while Osimhen’s value exceeds £100 million.
Jesus has played a crucial role in Arteta’s tactics at the Emirates Stadium, and he might hesitate to agree to such a deal, despite the opportunity to acquire one of the top goal scorers globally.
Meanwhile, Arsenal is reportedly considering a January transfer for Ivan Toney, who appears eager to depart Brentford once his gambling ban concludes.
Arsenal have a hectic summer of transfers and decisions to make with Mikel Arteta entering his fifth full campaign leading the Gunners. There is more pressure than ever to lift silverware and deliver on the investment of the past summers with more set to come.
Pep Guardiola could be entering his final season with Manchester City, while Liverpool and Chelsea are going through managerial transitions. There is opportunity for success for the Gunners but the decisions during the next three months will be pivotal in setting it up.
Here, football.london has taken a look at what the club needs to consider and achieve in the lead up to the 2024/25 season. We begin with the biggest job of all.
Mikel Arteta signs new deal
Arguably the most important business that Arsenal can do this summer is renew the contract of their manager Arteta. The Spaniard has been the key to the Gunners’ progression and establishment as Manchester City’s main rivals for the Premier League title.
With just one season remaining, the club cannot afford to let him run down the deal any further and potential transfers will want assurances that the coach they are signing for will be with them for the foreseeable future. Thankfully, all the indications are that Arteta is far from done, the club are extremely happy with him and he wants to finish the project and win title with the club.
Benjamin Sesko signs
One of the priorities in the window this summer is a new striker and football.london understands that the key player the club is pushing for is Benjamin Sesko. The £55.6million RB Leipzig player will offer Arsenal improved depth in the position and greater competition for Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.
Despite interest in Isak, the financial weight of the deal means that Sesko would allow for further investment in other positions whilst also guaranteeing both immediate quality and potential. Comparably, Sesko ranks higher than his Newcastle counterpart in several areas including goalscoring proficiency.
Major outgoings
There is a lot of work to do in the outgoings department too with many players now surplus to requirements. More than ten members of the squad have elements of uncertainty about their futures and Edu is under pressure to secure good money for the players.
Some need to be moved on like Eddie Nketiah whose level has been eclipsed the higher the Gunners have risen up the table. Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira seem also to lack a clear place in Arteta’s plans and the three returning loanees, Kieran Tierney, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Tavares, all need to be moved on too.
The midfield completion
Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard are two perfect parts of Mikel Arteta’s midfield and Thomas Partey may or may not be staying with the club for the final year of his deal. What is certain however is that the third and final piece is yet to arrive and beyond the needs at striker, winger and in defence, the middle third should certainly be taking the majority of the focus and investment.
The difficulty is finding the player. Bruno Guimaraes has been mentioned but remains a very expensive option. Joshua Kimmich could leave Bayern Munich this summer and would be an excellent experienced pick for the midfield with scope to invest again when the perfect profile emerges in future windows.
Ethan Nwaneri’s future is also worth consideration and finding a pathway into the senior side is something which the club needs to get right after years of false dawns since the breakthrough of Bukayo Saka. The teenager has all the makings of someone who could follow the England international and the club needs to offer the minutes for that to happen.
Arsenal face a vital summer as they look to close the small gap to Manchester City.
Mikel Arteta’s side finished the 2023/24 season just two points off Pep Guardiola’s dominant Premier League champions. Only minor changes will be needed to ensure the Gunners give themselves an even better chance of lifting a first league title since 2004.
And attention will now fully turn to the transfer window which opens on June 14. With that being said, football.london have taken a look below at the latest transfer reports and speculation surrounding the Emirates Stadium…
Arsenal’s Raphinha ‘bid’
Arsenal are reportedly set to offer Barcelona €40million (around £35m) for former Leeds winger Raphinha. It is said that the Brazilian is surplus to requirements at the Nou Camp with Chelsea also interested according to claims via Football365.
The Telegraph claim that Fulham have made Arsenal’s Emile Smith Rowe a ‘priority’ signing this summer. It is said that the Cottagers are ready to bid early in the summer transfer window to secure a deal.
Hansi Flick is officially the new manager of FC Barcelona, replacing Xavi Hernandez, and he has already stated that he plans on looking to the Bundesliga during the summer transfer window to try to bring in new talents to the Catalans. He was briefly considered to be a Thomas Tuchel replacement at Bayern, but it became clear that the sextuplewinner wanted to pursue a new challenge abroad after being given his marching orders by the DFB, ending his time as Germany manager just eight months before the start of this summer’s European Championships.
Per French outlet L’Equipe (via Sport Bild), Flick is interested in trying to bring French winger Kingsley Coman to Barcelona this summer. His current contract at Bayern runs through June 2027, but Barcelona is keen on trying to get him this summer, but nothing concrete has taken place yet in that regard. The player himself has only just returned to team training with the French national team at Clairefontaine for their EURO 2024 preparations. His involvement with the national team this summer was in jeopardy when he suffered an ankle injury towards the end of the Bundesliga season with Bayern, but everything has gone to plan with him being able to be fully fit on time for the start of the Euros.
Coma is currently valued at around €50 million, and his stock could, in theory, rise if he performs well for France at the EUROs, so it could be something for Vincent Kompany, Max Eberl, Christoph Freund and the rest of Bayern’s board to consider. They could reinvest funds from his sale into squad investment with inbound players this summer — players that Kompany sees as a good fit for the systems and tactics he would like to implement at the club.
Fellow winger Serge Gnabry is also a prime candidate for sale for Bayern this summer, but he will be missing out on the Euros and thus cannot have a short-term market value increase while the transfer window is open and active. For that reason, Coman could be a more worthwhile departure for the club with a higher capacity for a better return financially. His injury history is also something to consider for Bayern, as the player missed a total of 21 competitive matches across all competitions this season through injury and that could certainly be a negotiating piece for Flick and Barcelona to try to drive his price down.
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