SETTABLOID

The wait for Arsenal to make a permanent appointment of their sporting director goes on despite claims after the close of the January transfer window that it would be a decision made rather quickly. However, we are approaching the end of February and moving into March and yet there is no breakthrough as to who will get the job.

“The decision, I think, will be done relatively quickly, whether it’s Jason or somebody else, I don’t know, but I think that decision will be done quite early,” Mikel Arteta said after the closure of the window.

Yet nearly a month has gone by since this claim from the Arsenal manager and it does not look clearer as to who it might be. Jason Ayto oversaw the January transfer window alongside the existing recruitment team following Edu Gaspar’s resignation earlier in the season.

How much control Arteta has remains unstated. Going off his words there, it appears something the likes of Josh Kroenke, Tim Lewis, and Richard Garlick will have the biggest sway on – however, it would be naïve to assume the influence of the Gunners’ manager in any major club decision.

There were some suggestions that Tomas Rosicky had become a leading candidate in the race. The former Arsenal midfielder has resided at Sparta Praha, turning them into a title-winning side once against and returning them back to the Champions League for the first time in 14 years.

The Premier League has chosen to appoint Andy Madley as the referee for Arsenal on Wednesday night when they travel to Nottingham Forest.

Madley was at the centre of controversy at the weekend after officiating Manchester United’s draw with Everton at Goodison Park. With the scores level in stoppage time at the end of the game, the referee awarded the Toffees a penalty after he had adjudged that Harry Maguire had fouled Ashley Young in the box.

VAR Matt Donohue saw a different view and requested for Madley to go to the pitchside monitor. After a lengthy stoppage where several angles were checked, Madley chose to overturn his decision and award a drop ball in favour of United.

After the match, the process was widely criticised as replays showed that while Maguire may not have fouled Young, Matthijs de Ligt did. It was later suggested by former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher on Ref Watch that if Madley had seen the angle through the goal, he would not have overruled his initial decision.

Despite the decision, neither Madley nor Donohue have been dropped from the next round of Premier League fixtures this midweek. As mentioned, Madley will be refereeing the Gunners at the City Ground while Donohue will be the lead VAR for Brighton and Hove Albion’s clash with AFC Bournemouth and Liverpool’s home game with Newcastle United.

Arsenal will be hoping that they can redeem themselves at Forest having lost ground in the title race on Saturday following a 1-0 defeat to West Ham United. Couple this result with Liverpool’s victory at Manchester City and Mikel Arteta’s side are now 11 points adrift of the Premier League leaders.

Alexander Isak’s Newcastle United future may not actually be decided by whether the club qualifies for next season’s Champions League.

Isak, 25, has become one of the most in-demand strikers in Europe, with both Arsenal and Liverpool being linked with the Sweden international ahead of the summer transfer window. Isak has been in sensational form this season, netting 21 goals and providing five assists in 30 appearances across all competitions, including strikes against the north Londoners in Newcastle’s Premier League and Carabao Cup victories.

His eye-catching performances have led many to believe his departure is inevitable, but the Magpies are expected to demand a hefty £150million fee while still looking to extend his contract beyond 2028.

But while correctly predicting that Newcastle would not let their talisman leave in the January transfer window, Emile Heskey previously stated that the club’s ability to secure a return to Champions League football will be a deciding factor in whether Isak leaves. The former Liverpool and England striker even hinted at a possible ‘gentleman’s agreement’ being in place, allowing Isak to leave St. James’ Park in the summer if the club fails to qualify.

However, former Chelsea and Sunderland midfielder Bolo Zenden has now weighed in, claiming that missing out on Europe’s elite club competition may not be a deal-breaker for Isak. Zenden suggested playing European football in any capacity, such as the Europa League, may be sufficient, while stating that Isak may even struggle to hit the same heights at Arsenal or Liverpool.

Arsenal could be able to sign Dusan Vlahovic for a bargain transfer fee, with the Italian media naming two other top clubs who are keen on the Juventus striker as the Gunners make contact with a Brazilian forward.

The Gunners have been in desperate need of a top-quality striker for some time. With Gabriel Jesus injured and Kai Havertz not scoring as frequently as he did last season, Arsenal made a futile attempt to sign Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa in the January transfer window.

Alexander Isak is Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta’s “dream target” for the summer, while RB Leipzig star Benjamin Sesko is another player that the north London club like.

Vlahovic has long been on Arsenal’s radar. The Gunners tried to sign the Serbia international from Fiorentina in January 2022 before he moved to Juventus for £66.6million.

The Gunners did not bid for Vlahovic in the end, but it has now emerged that they are still keen on him.

According to TuttoJuve, Arsenal, Manchester United and Atletico Madrid are interested in signing Vlahovic in the summer transfer window.

The report in the Italian news outlet has claimed that Juventus are ready to sell Vlahovic for €35million (£29m / $36.6m).

That is an incredibly low figure for a player who has been described as “the strongest striker” in Serie A by his Serbia international teammate Filip Kostic, who is on loan at Fenerbahce from Juventus at the moment.

Vlahovic scored 49 goals and gave eight assists in 108 matches in all competitions for Fiorentina, and has scored 55 goals and provided 11 assists in 132 appearances for Juventus.

Gary Neville has given two reasons for Arsenal to hold onto over their chances of winning the Premier League after Liverpool’s win against Manchester City.

Arne Slot’s side claimed a 2-0 win over City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon, extending their lead at the top of the table by 11 points. Goals from Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai sealed the victory for the Reds, who have played one game more than Arsenal.

Neville, who was on Sky Sports’ coverage during Liverpool’s win, was asked about what could potentially stop the Reds from winning the league title. “Complacency and injuries, I think, are the two things [that could stop Liverpool]. I can’t see complacency – they’ve got a lot of experience, they’ve looked completely in control,” Neville explained.

Neville then suggested other reasons which could offer Arsenal encouragement and harm Liverpool in the title race. “I’ve seen here in the last two years when Arsenal came here late on in the season, you’ve got to go and win games like this and they never did,” Neville added.

“It just tells you something that they’re not quite ready. What Liverpool have done today is really important. Psychologically, it helps you get over the line – not that it sends you 11 points clear but in your mindset you feel unbreakable. There’s still two or three months to go, the Champions League, Carabao Cup finals and plenty of league games so there’s a job to do still, but they’ll be almost impossible to stop from this point in.”

Arsenal suffered a damaging blow to their hopes of winning the title as Liverpool extended the gap to 11 points after beating Manchester City and West Ham secured a 1-0 win at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners’ problems with goalscoring continued and the experiment to start Mikel Merino could not have gone worse.

Mikel Arteta’s hopes of securing any late goals was made worse by his side getting yet another red card, this time Myles Lewis-Skelly saw a yellow changed to a red by VAR. The question however is, should it have been a card at all and instead a free-kick to Arsenal?

Myles Lewis-Skelly sending off

Let’s talk about the action which got Myles Lewis-Skelly sent off in the first place. Naturally there were comparisons made to the William Saliba sending off from earlier in the season.

At Bournemouth, the Frenchman pulled down Evanilson, denying him the chance to run onto a loose pass from Leandro Trossard. The positions of David Raya and Ben White were deemed to have been they key factors in why the red card was given after initially a yellow was shown.

Again, Raya and Saliba’s position were as such that had Kudus got away from Lewis-Skelly, it would have been a clear goalscoring opportunity. Lewis-Skelly takes the Ghanaian international down and denies him that run.

Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher have both agreed that the Premier League title is heading to Anfield this season after the Reds opened up a commanding 11-point lead at the summit and with the former Manchester United skipper forced into something of an awkward admission about Liverpool’s biggest strengths.

Arne Slot has proved an inspirational appointment at Anfield in succession to Jurgen Klopp and has put his side on pole position to win the league title in his first season at the helm – just the second time in 35 years that Liverpool will have been crowned as the champions of England. Their dominance at the summit was reinforced on Sunday as they pulled off an impressive 2-0 win at the home of four-time reigning champions Manchester City, with goals from the irreplaceable Mo Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai doing the damage in the first half.

While nearest challengers Arsenal do have a game in hand on the Reds, Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to West Ham illustrated their lack of options in attack, with both Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus out for the remainder of the season.

As a result, Carragher expects them to drop more points after effectively ruling them out of the title chase.