SETTABLOID

Arsenal have received a huge boost in their quest to reinforce their attacking unit, with a report revealing that both Benjamin Sesko and Ollie Watkins are ready to move to the Emirates Stadium, as Roy Keane delivers his brutal verdict on the Aston Villa star.

One of the areas that Arsenal have identified to strengthen as a priority in the summer transfer window is attack. The Gunners made a late move for Ollie Watkins in the January transfer window, but Aston Villa turned it down. With Gabriel Jesus not scoring enough goals when he is fit and Kai Havertz not a natural striker, the need for a number nine for the north London club cannot be understated.

TEAMtalk’s transfer correspondent Ben Jacobs reported on February 7 that Arsenal had made an enquiry about Sesko in January. The Gunners approached RB Leipzig for the 21-year-old Slovenia international striker, but after being told that he was not available, they decided not to make a bid.

Sources have told TEAMtalk that Arsenal are likely to return for Sesko in the summer transfer window, and it has now emerged that the striker himself is open to a move to the north London club.

According to journalist Steve Kay in Football Transfers, Arsenal have already persuaded the youngster to make the move to the Gunners despite other clubs showing interest in him.

“Although a host of Premier League clubs are interested in the Slovenia international, Arsenal remain the firm favourites to secure Sesko’s signature after managing to convince him of their project last summer,” states the report.

“Sesko’s preference for Arsenal remains unchanged despite his decision to stay and sign a new contract at Leipzig last year.”

Football Transfers has reported that although Sesko’s release clause at the moment is €70m (£58.2m, $74.8m), it could rise to as high as €80m (£66.6m, $85.5m) before the end of the season, depending on his performances.

Encouraging for the Gunners, Kay has also revealed that Villa striker Watkins is ready to switch to Arsenal and spend the rest of his career at the club he supported as a kid.

Kay said on KS1 TV: “I’m told that Arsenal will go back in for Watkins in the summer, that doesn’t mean that Arsenal don’t want Benjamin Sesko.

Arsenal’s stand-in striker Mikel Merino has responded following the memorable 7-1 away Champions League win against PSV Eindhoven as the Gunners have one foot in the quarter-final of the competition.

With both Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz injured, it leaves Arsenal without a recognised striker for the remainder of the season. With the team looking for a goal going into the closing stages of the recent Premier League clash against Leicester City, Mikel Arteta turned to midfielder Merino to play up front.

He scored twice in the final 10 minutes to give the Gunners a 2-0 win. Since then he has started the following three games as a striker.

There was some talk over if he could do the role with Arsenal drawing a blank against both West Ham United and Nottingham Forest. But Arteta kept faith with his fellow Spaniard and he started in the same position for the Champions League clash against PSV.

Merino repaid that faith. He scored just after the half-an-hour mark to add to first half goals from Jurrien Timber and Ethan Nwaneri, before providing an assist for Martin Odegaard’s second of the game to make it 6-1.

Leandro Trossard and Riccardo Calafiori were also on the scoresheet for Arsenal as they made history by recording the biggest ever away win in the Champions League knockout stages.

Arsenal put their woes in front of goal behind them on Tuesday night as they scored seven goals to put one foot in the UEFA Champions League last eight.

The Gunners thrashed PSV Eindhoven 7-1 away from home in what was the perfect return to action for Mikel Arteta’s men following a week off. The flurry of goals came after they failed to score in two consecutive goals against West Ham and Nottingham Forest.

Attention will now turn to this weekend’s return to Premier League action against Manchester United. The Premier League title remains a possibility, albeit a slim one, but there’s plenty of football still to be played.

Arsenal’s next five fixtures

March 9 vs Manchester United (A) at 4.30pm – Premier League

March 12 vs PSV Eindhoven (H) at 8pm – Champions League L16

March 16 vs Chelsea (H) at 1.30pm – Premier League

April 1 vs Fulham (H) at 7.45pm – Premier League

April 5 vs Everton (A) at 3pm – Premier League

Mikel Arteta joked that he knew a seven-goal haul was coming for his Arsenal side in his post-match press conference. I certainly did not, and to give you a glimpse behind the curtain, I and others in the build-up to the game here in the Netherlands were having discussions about one-goal scorelines in either direction.

With both sides in such poor form, it was such a hard game to predict as to how it might play out. PSV have scored in every home game this season and that record continued thanks to a poor penalty given away by Thomas Partey, however that was the last real sight of goal they had.

This is such a huge result for Arsenal and will carry them gleefully into the trip to Old Trafford as they look to get some revenge on Manchester United. There are so many themes from this game that could be discussed but football.london has picked out three key talking points that need to be covered.

It could have been so different

Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way first and then we can cuddle up to the positive vibes that followed this. Myles Lewis-Skelly should have been sent off in this game.

I know I have seen the arguments against it, but if the shoe were on the other foot I would be beyond angry that a red card was not brandished. My theory is that there must have been some reflection from the first yellow, which was wrongly given after Lewis-Skelly got his foot to a stretching challenge but was called up anyway; this, therefore giving the official pause for thought when he took down Richard Ledezma before he aimed to cross the ball.

Equally, Ismael Saibari missed an absolute golden opportunity to give the home side the lead in the game, getting the rebound from David Raya’s parry out to the midfielder. His strike cannoned off the upright and then was put wide by his teammate Ivan Perisic. Had PSV taken the lead, and Arsenal been down to ten men, it would have been a very different affair.

Arsenal star Bukayo Saka has let his feelings on his teammates excellent performance at PSV Eindhoven known with a humurous post on Instagram.

Saka, who has been injured since the end of December, has been unable to impact the Gunners’ results for other two months now. Mikel Arteta’s men had struggled in front of goal in recent weeks with a number of forwards out injured but them fortunes changed in the Netherlands.

The north Londoners raced into a 3-0 lead in the first-half thanks to goals from Jurrien Timber, Ethan Nwaneri and Mikel Merino. Martin Odegaard, Leandro Trossard and Riccardo Calafiori added to the scoring to complete the rout.

It means Arsenal have all but confirmed their spot in the quarter-final of the Champions League ahead of next week’s second-leg at the Emirates Stadium.

Watching the game back home, Saka took to social media to post his feelings on emphatic display. The forward posted the well-known meme of Michael Jackson eating popcorn inside a cinema from the music video ‘Thriller’.

Saka underwent surgery on a hamstring injury picked up in the win over Crystal Palace four days before Christmas. The England international won’t return before the March international break meaning April is a more likely timeframe.

As far as Champions League knockout matches go, this was dreamland for Arsenal. In the middle of a challenging run and forced to deal with the disappointment of an abruptly ended title race – not that Mikel Arteta is conceding it – winning 7-1 away from home is about as good as it gets.

Had Thomas Partey not given away a first-half penalty then it would have been even better. PSV Eindhoven’s resistance was limited to very few moments of brief hope on a chastening night. Arsenal didn’t want it to end.

This was not the performance of a team lacking confidence or a striker. Mikel Merino grabbed another goal, as did both of the wingers. Ethan Nwaneri further cemented his place as a genuine world star and Martin Odegaard found open pockets of space and used them effectively throughout.

PSV will argue they could easily have had another goal but Arsenal tore them apart in the second half after a strangely clinical display. It put them as far into the quarter-finals without being there as can be possible.

Odegaard fumes

Perhaps playing with the tension of knowing how just on a knife edge Arsenal have been in recent weeks, Odegaard’s response to not being given an early penalty was telling. After streaking through into the PSV box, he went down when trying to take a shot.

Arsenal take on PSV Eindhoven looking to secure a strong first-leg result away from home in their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie. This is the third season in a row that Arsenal have faced the Dutch side, amazingly; but in the last two, they failed to get a win in the Netherlands in their group stage clashes.

Mikel Arteta is continuing to have struggles with his team selection, and his side are goalless in their last two games. PSV have hit a period of poor form themselves, as they too have surrendered their title race lead and were beaten in back-to-back fixtures with Go Ahead Eagles which also saw them eliminated from the KNVB Cup.

The Champions League remains a bastion of hope for each side who will be looking to outdo one another once again. PSV have plenty of attacking threat, unlike Arsenal, in the form of Noa Lang and Johan Bakayoko while the Gunners could give a first start to Ben White since his return from injury.

Arsenal effectively all-but booked their place in the Champions League quarter-finals after scoring seven at PSV. A win that will live long in the memory for many.

The Gunners enjoyed an amazing first half as Jurrien Timber gave them an early lead, leaping to meet Declan Rice’s left-footed cross. This came just minutes after Ismael Saibari cannoned an open-goal attempt off the bar.

Then Ethan Nwaneri doubled the Gunners’ lead, pouncing on a cross from Myles Lewis-Skelly who would be replaced by Riccardo Calafiori having escaped what looked a nailed-on second yellow card offence. Timber was again involved in the third goal, fighting to see the ball land at Mikel Merino’s feet who scored cleanly.

However, a mistake from Thomas Partey gifted PSV a penalty to give them some light in the tie. That was quickly extinguished minutes into the second half when Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard scored before the 49th minute.

Odegaard would then get his second of the match, striking from outside the box to rub more salt in the Dutch side’s wounds. Calafiori added a seventh late on after being fed by his captain to cap off the best of European away days.