SETTABLOID

Scotland youth international Callan Hamill is said to be signing for Arsenal this summer after the Gunners agreed a six-figure deal with St Johnstone.

Hamill, who turns 16 on March 1, reportedly turned down Celtic and Rangers last year to join Arsenal. The right-footed teenage defender is due to sign on July 1 as the first opportunity cross-border moves can become official during the summer transfer window.

An apparent agreement comes almost three weeks after Ayden Heaven departed for Manchester United. Ruell Walters, another then-teenage defender, also left the Gunners last summer after turning down a contract extension, joining Luton Town.

Much like those two, Hamill is a versatile defender. The Stirling native primarily plays centrally, akin to Heaven, but also at right-back, like Walters, while is equally comfortable in midfield or on the left of defence.

Hamill has already trained with the club’s under-18s this season and played for the under-17s when they won the Flamengo adidas Cup in Brazil in December. He is also said to have competed in another international tournament for the Gunners last July.

The following month, he signed a new one-year deal with St Johnstone. At the time, their head of youth academy, Alistair Stevenson, acknowledged the interest in Hamill.

Liverpool are interested in signing Sverre Nypan in the summer transfer window, with a report revealing how the Reds are trying to convince him to snub a move to Arsenal as John Arne Riise urges Arne Slot to sign a top Premier League striker.

Nypan has established himself as one of the best and most promising young midfielders in Europe. Despite being just 18 years of age, the midfielder has already become a regular in the Rosenborg first team and has been compared to Arsenal and Norway international star Martin Odegaard.

The youngster has scored 13 goals and given 11 assists in 60 matches in all competitions for Rosenborg, and it is only a matter of time before he moves to a bigger club.

Nypan set a club record when making his senior Rosenborg debut back in 2022. He was 15 years, 10 months and 18 days at the time and became the Norwegian outfit’s youngest-ever player to feature in a competitive match.

The youngster has since gone from strength to strength and was on the verge of joining Arsenal in the January transfer window.

The Norway Under-21 international midfielder eventually made a U-turn and decided to stay at Rosenborg until the summer of 2025, and now Liverpool are trying to get ahead of Arsenal in the race for his prized signature.

Mikel Arteta has urged Raheem Sterling to step up his game as Arsenal chase Liverpool in the Premier League title hunt. With injuries plaguing key players such as Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, and Gabriel Martinelli, the Gunners are left with a limited choice of recognised forwards – Leandro Trossard, Ethan Nwaneri, and Sterling himself.

Although young prodigy Nwaneri made an impression during the victory at Leicester, Sterling was subbed off to see his replacement Mikel Merino net a pivotal brace. Despite his lacklustre start to life at Arsenal, having been loaned from Chelsea and notching just one goal – which came against Bolton in the Carabao Cup – Sterling is anticipated to feature prominently against West Ham in Saturday’s clash.

Victory for Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium would narrow the gap to Liverpool, who play Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. When quizzed about Sterling’s potential influence on the season, Arteta expressed confidence: “He has to have it because we really need him.

“Raheem is so experienced, and like many other players, we know that what you did yesterday is not whether it was really good or not. That could be relevant to the next game, to the next action. He’s fully focused, he’s trained really well this week, and he is ready to go again.”

This coming weekend, the football world will be fixated on the Emirates Stadium, where Arsenal is set to take on West Ham United. As Arsenal intensifies its pursuit of Liverpool, currently leading the Premier League, this game could prove pivotal. With one game less played than Liverpool and trailing by eight points, a win for Arsenal could see them reduce the gap to five points as the season approaches its decisive stages.

The Gunners go into this match as the favourites at 27/10 with CopyBet while the Irons are 17/2 and a draw is 24/5. The hosts are unbeaten in their last 15 Premier League matches which is their longest run since April 2011 and will be keen to extend that to put pressure on the title race this weekend.

Liverpool’s position at the top took a hit following their 2-2 draw with Aston Villa earlier this week. This unexpected result has opened a window for Arsenal to make significant progress in their title challenge. Key to their ambitions will be Mikel Merino, who has emerged as a solution to Mikel Arteta’s striker dilemma, following his impressive two-goal performance against Leicester City last weekend. This comes at a crucial time with Kai Havertz ruled out for the remainder of the season.

In contrast, West Ham is grappling with instability under the new leadership of Graham Potter. Their standing in the league is uncertain and there’s a looming risk of them being dragged into a relegation battle. Despite recent defeats to Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Brentford, there are signs of improvement since they parted ways with Julen Lopetegui.

Arsenal vs West Ham Betting Tips

• Both teams to score – 27/20 (CopyBet)
• Arsenal to win and over 2.5 goals – 4/5 (CopyBet)
• Mikel Merino to score anytime – 9/5 (CopyBet

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Arsenal return to Premier League action and will face West Ham this weekend after finding out their Champions League last-16 opponents, PSV Eindhoven. Arsenal can close the gap to Liverpool again to five points with the same number of games played with the Reds then playing Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

It could be a massive weekend for the Gunners and a big week in general as in just four days they travel to Nottingham to take on an excellent Forest side too. There are still concerns in the squad with some unorthodox suggestions coming from every angle.

Arsenal cannot drop points if they want to win the league. While the gap has closed, they must take advantage of that and this tie with West Ham is massive, but equally so is the game four days later at Nottingham Forest.

The challenge of this quick turnaround before another weekend break is how to select the side. I believe using a change of full-backs works in the club’s favour and offers tactical advantages with someone like Riccardo Calafiori being better in progression for the home match and Myles Lewis-Skelly being better when the side need more control away from home in midweek.

I would not start Mikel Merino up top. I asked Mikel Arteta about the idea of getting fixated on the moment that the Spaniard was brought on, scoring twice and then losing sight of the context and he agreed that the scenario was what helped the midfielder-turned-striker succeed – we will see if he starts on Saturday however.

Arsenal are reportedly considering a move for in-form Fiorentina striker Moise Kean but could face competition from two Premier League rivals for his signature.

Mikel Arteta has made signing a new striker a priority for the summer transfer window and work is already well underway for the Gunners who are busy identifying targets.

The report claims that Kean also has admirers in Tottenham and Aston Villa, with the player ‘tempted’ by the chance to test himself in the Premier League again.

The Italian international joined Everton for around £25m in 2019 but ultimately spent just one unsuccessful season at Goodison Park. He was memorably substituted after just 19 minutes on the pitch by interim manager Duncan Ferguson, and after that Kean’s Everton career seemed destined to be over.

After a loan with Paris Saint-Germain and a return to former club Juventus, Kean joined Fiorentina permanently last summer, for a bargain fee of £11m.

The 24-year-old seems to have finally found his feet in Florence and has bagged an impressive 19 goals in 29 appearances across all competitions this season – so it’s no surprise to see Arsenal keeping tabs on his situation.

We have consistently reported that Arsenal are expected to bring in a new front man this summer, as Arteta wants more competition for Kai Havertz.

The German international is sidelined with a hamstring injury until the end of the season, so the Gunners may end up regretting not signing a new striker in January.

With the Champions League draw conducted on Friday morning, Arsenal have been handed a clearer idea of who they must beat to claim Europe’s top prize this season.

Mikel Arteta’s side successfully navigated the league phase to earn automatic qualification for the last-16, but had to wait for a play-off round to conclude before learning their pathway in full.

With that completed this week, UEFA’s draw has confirmed PSV Eindhoven as the team Arsenal must eliminate to advance to the next stage.

Arsenal can already map out the rest of their season. With 13 Premier League matches left and a pathway to the Champions League final now clear, the race to the finish is very much here.

It is a three-month stretch for Arsenal with plenty at stake – not least because Liverpool have left the door open in the title race after recent results. Mikel Arteta will need every part of his squad to play a key role between now and the end of May if a trophy is to be brought home, though.

His side have been plagued by problems throughout the campaign. Three players are already ruled out for the rest of the season after Takehiro Tomiyasu joined Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus in needing surgery, limiting Arteta’s options.

Fortunately, the head coach has been able to promote Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly confidently into starting players. The pair will both head into next month’s Champions League last-16 matches as likely starters – almost undroppable figures, such has their impact been.

For Arsenal, seven weeks on from their last match in Europe, they can begin to plot the next steps once more. The extended group phase ending in January has left them watching on over the past fortnight as sides outside of the top eight battled it out to remain in the competition.

In the process, a handful of their rivals have been sent packing with Manchester City and Juventus both knocked out. Atalanta were shocked by Club Brugge, whilst even those who remain are not quite in top nick.

William Gallas feels the personality of Diego Costa “can be good” for Arsenal, but believes the former Chelsea man would “turn down” the chance to move there because of his Blues connection.

Arsenal have been left without strikers Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz for the rest of the season due to injuries. With Bukayo Saka also currently sidelined, they are left with the bare bones in attack.

In their last game against Leicester, their attack featured Leandro Trossard up top, with Raheem Sterling – who’s struggled for minutes this season – and 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri either side of him.

The injury situation has benefitted Nwaneri, who’s developing at a good rate, but the Gunners would surely rather have some more quality in other areas, and not be susceptible to a crisis if another injury occurs.

Some fans have proposed free agent Costa as a potential striker reinforcement, and Gallas has assessed the chances of the move working out, though it’s not one which is likely to happen.