ARSENAL are said to be in competition with Manchester City for Girona defender Miguel Gutierrez.
The Spaniard could cost in the region of £30million.
The Gunners are also reportedly monitoring Sporting Lisbon defender Goncalo Inacio.
Meanwhile, Ivan Toney remains a top transfer target for the Gunners and they are reportedly favourites to sign the striker ahead of Chelsea.
Meanwhile, manager Mikel Arteta has revealed that Thomas Partey is making ‘good’ progress on his injury as he edges closer to a return.
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Arsenal fans react to draw
Arsenal fans have been reacting to the Champions League draw on social media
One fan posted: “One of those teams that are exceptionally fiddly to eliminate but you’d make Arsenal strong favourites.”
A second wrote: “Lol we are winning this comfortably at home.”
Another added: “They’ve got some decent players. Good keeper. Won’t be easy.”
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AC Milan to come back for Kiwior
AC Milan are still reportedly interested in Jakub Kiwior.
The Italian club had been linked with a loan move for the Arsenal defender.
The Daily Mirror has claimed that AC will make a fresh move for the Polish international.
Up next for Arsenal
The Gunners face Liverpool in their next Premier League game.
The club then competes 2023 with back-to-back London derbies against West Ham and Fulham.
Yorke on Rice
Dwight Yorke has insisted that Arsenal have still overpaid for Declan Rice despite his impressive performances.
He told MegaDice.com: “Declan Rice needs to win a couple of trophies before I change my tune. I know he scored important goals against Luton and Man United, but that’s what you’d expect when you spend such a large fee.
“Scoring a few important goals doesn’t mean much if you finish second at the end of the season. That’s not what I want my £100million man to be doing – I want him to win major trophies.
Credit: Reuters “People think that’s unfair, but the fee is a hell of a lot to spend to finish second. People may think there’s more to it, but you have to bring success to the club if you’ve joined for that amount of money. There’s no point otherwise.
“Rice can score important goals, but it means nothing if Arsenal don’t win trophies. I expect Rice to be like a modern Roy Keane and drag his team to silverware. If he does that, then I’ll have no issues with his fee.
“I think Rice is a damn good player, but I don’t see £105million in him. I suppose that’s just the market, though. If Rice delivers success, then I’ll be the first one to congratulate him.”
Terry snubs Arsenal
John Terry has backed Real Madrid over Arsenal to win the Champions League title.
Following the draw, he said: “I think team-wise you have to look at Real Madrid.
“For me, I think they have been fantastic, probably for the last seven or eight years in the competition and are always there.
“I think Bellingham has been incredible as an individual and they obviously have a fantastic manager in Carlo who I worked alongside for many years at Chelsea.
“He’s a great man manager, so the players love him, great tactically and I think they will go a long way.”
Credit: AP Arteta on Champions League progress
Mikel Arteta has hailed Arsenal’s “positive” Champions League campaign.
He said: “Overall, I think, very positive.
“Having not been in the competition for six or seven years and having a team that hasn’t got that much experience, I think we’ve competed really well.
“I really liked the approach of the team in every single game, the way we’ve tried to play. We had some big results and big experiences, like the one we had in Seville or Lens, or even today looking at how the team can act and how fair it is to give certain players that exposure when you make so many changes.
“Overall finishing first with a game to play we have to be really happy. Now we have to now close that chapter until February and make sure that when that chapter opens up again that we’re in the best place to compete against another top side.”
Credit: PA More from Edu
Edu has also insisted that Arsenal need to “maintain” the performances in order to progress in the competition.
He added: “The most important thing for us is to maintain our performances and the way we are playing.
“That’s our focus, that’s where we want to be and want to keep growing, so let’s see how far we can go in the competition.
“We want to try and go as far as possible, but we are very much concentrating on playing well, performing well and playing the best football we can, and then we’ll see how far we go.”
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Edu reacts to draw
Edu has reacted to Arsenal’s draw against Porto in the Champions League round of 16.
Speaking after the draw, he said: “We are going to play against a club that is very used to playing in the competition because they play in it every single year and they have a lot of players as well with big experience.
“We have to understand how are we going to play and respect them as much as we can. We will play our game and see if we can go through this stage.
“We can see how they are playing, how organized they are, and the players that they have. Porto is a club that you have to be really prepared to play against or we’ll have problems, so what we have to concentrate on is maintaining our levels and the way we are playing.”
Credit: Sunday Times Champions League top scorers
Despite not making it past the group stages, Manchester United’s Rasmus Hojund is among the Champions League top scorers.
The Danish striker netted five times in the groups, equal to Alvaro Morata, Antoine Griezmann and Erling Haaland.
Who will finish the campaign with the most goals?
Top assister
Bukayo Saka has impressed in his debut campaign of the Champions League.
The Arsenal star has assisted the most amount of goals [4] in the competition.
`Will he impress in the knockout stages?
Jesus’ Champions League dream
Gabriel Jesus has previously admitted that he wants to win the Champions League with Kai Havertz, having lost out on the cup to the German in 2021.
He said: ”A lot, we are always joking that he [Havertz] won the Champions League against me and I always say I want to win one with him!”
”We always joke [about it], but now I want to win with him and Jorginho as well. He is an amazing player and the way he plays he is so strong and tall, with his quality as well he helps us a lot.
‘Quietly like me, he is always fighting and helping the team and the way this guy has arrived is massive. We are very happy we have him.”
Credit: Getty When will the draw be confirmed?
Uefa have confirmed that the exact date and times of the round of 16 matches will be announced this evening.
Credit: Reuters Vieira homecoming
Fabio Vieira will face some familiar faces when Arsenal take on Porto.
The midfielder joined the Gunners from the Portuguese giants in 2022.
Credit: Getty
More fan reaction
Football fans have been left fuming after the Champions League draw for the Last 16 was picked this morning.
Supporters suggested that the random draw was “rigged” after Manchester City were picked against the “easiest” team in the pot and Arsenal were handed a tough tie.
The Cityzens were drawn against Copenhagen while Arsenal will face Porto who won the competition back in 2004.
Copenhagen are ranked as the 37th best team in Europe according to Uefa’s own club coefficient.
While Manchester City are considered the best team in Europe off the back of their Champions League success last season.
More on Porto’s CL history
The Portuguese giants have won the Champions League twice in the club’s history.
Porto first won the tournament in 1987 and again in 2004.
The second victory was when the club was managed by Jose Mourinho.
Credit: Getty Arsenal fans react to draw
Arsenal fans have been reacting to the Champions League draw on social media
One fan posted: “One of those teams that are exceptionally fiddly to eliminate but you’d make Arsenal strong favourites.”
A second wrote: “Lol we are winning this comfortably at home.”
Another added: “They’ve got some decent players. Good keeper. Won’t be easy.”
Lord Bendtner
Credit: Twitter Draw in full
Here is the draw in full…
Porto v Arsenal
Napoli v Barcelona
PSG v Real Sociedad
Inter Milan v Atletico Madrid
PSV v Borussia Dortmund
Lazio v Bayern Munich
Copenhagen v Man City
RB Leipzig v Real Madrid
Second draw
The second tie will see Napoli play LaLiga giants Barcelona.
The Catalonians have won the tournament five times.
Arsenal get Porto
The first club out of the draw is FC Porto, they will face ARSENAL.
Here we go
Uefa Deputy Secretary General Giorgio Marchetti and Terry are set to start drawing clubs for the round of 16.
Quick reminder
Here is a quick reminder of the teams in the pots for the round of 16 draw.
Draw is getting close
The ceremony for the Champions League draw is underway in Nyon, Switzerland.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
