Arsenal transfer news

GABRIEL JESUS has revealed the reason behind his phone-call celebration – which has been ringing off the hook as of late.The £45million Arsenal man has been in fine form since returning from a knee injury in March – scoring four goals in his last five appearances.
Gabriel Jesus whips out an imaginary phone every time he celebratesCredit: GETTY
The Brazilian’s celebration is in homage to his mumCredit: GETTY
The Brazilian has whipped out his answering-the-phone celebration for each of those goals – prompting fans to wonder why he picks up his imaginary mobile.
And he’s revealed it’s in homage to a pre-match call he received from his mum ahead of his appearance in the Selecao’s 2016 World Cup qualifier with Venezuela.
The 26-year-old recalled: “It was a joke with my friends, a ‘Hello, mother’.
“My friends know why.
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“My mother knows too. It was a celebration for them.”
Jesus doesn’t just pick up the phone when he scores a goal as a nod to that pre-match call from his mum.
It’s also of a tribute to the struggles they overcame as a family.
He continued: “When we were kids, my mom would be calling me all the time to find out where I was.
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“And if I didn’t pick up, she’d start calling all my friends.
“When I pick up the phone, it is in honour of my mother and our struggle.
“But it is also in honour of my friends and family and Coach Mamede and everyone in Brazil who helped me get here.”
Jesus and his Arsenal team-mates will be back in action on Friday night, welcoming relegation battlers Southampton to the Emirates.
The Gunners will look to bounce back from consecutive draws – in which they twice blew two-goal leads – against Liverpool and West Ham.
Mikel Arteta’s troops currently top the Premier League title by four behinds, although they’ve played a game more than defending champions Manchester City. More

MARTIN KEOWN revealed he used Erling Haaland’s dark arts long before the Manchester City sensation was terrorising Premier League defenders.And the Arsenal legend even managed to get Italian legend Francesco Totti sent off with a cheeky pinch.
Erling Haaland’s secret tactics to get into defender’s heads have been exposedCredit: PA
Martin Keown made 422 appearances for ArsenalCredit: Getty – Contributor
Haaland, 22, is tearing up scoring records by the week and could potentially fire Pep Guardiola’s side to a treble.
But it is not just his goal-scoring which has made him so dangerous with the Norwegian also a pro at mind games.
Brentford defender Ben Mee revealed earlier this week that the Norwegian is a fan of the ‘dark arts’ and has begun pinching defenders to put them off their game.
But Arsenal legend Keown says it was a tactic that he also used to frustrate opposition strikers in his own heyday.
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Writing for the Mail, he said: “There are different types of defenders in football and I definitely fell into the category of a ‘contact’ centre half. I wanted to leave an impression on my opponent from the off.
“I wanted to get into [my opponent’s] head, test his temperament and upset his focus and concentration. Occasionally, that would include pinching him in the lower back.
“I first encountered it myself in a European game with Arsenal and decided to bring it back to England.
“Some opponents refused to react, such as Gianluca Vialli. But that physical contact proved too much for Francesco Totti, who could not control himself and was sent off for repeatedly trying to elbow me in the face in a Champions League game in March 2003.”
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Keown adds that the “sky is the limit” for Haaland due to his mix of attributes to get around defenders.
He has 32 goals in 28 games and is not far off breaking Alan Shearer and Andy Cole’s joint-record for most Premier League goals in a season.
The pair claimed 34 strikes in separate seasons in the mid-90s but those were within seasons when 42 games were played instead of 38.
A few more Haaland goals could help City catch Keown’s former club Arsenal, who currently have a four point lead at the top of the table. More

ARSENAL have defended their much-criticised video clip of a mascot being “blanked” by players.Many fans, including SunSport columnist Piers Morgan and TalkSPORT presenter Laura Woods, slammed the disconnect between the Gunners’ stars and the smiling young girl.
Players didn’t appear to interact with the mascot but Arsenal later pointed out the autograph-signing was just part of her whole day’s experienceCredit: Twitter

But Arsenal say it was “just one interaction” in a “whole day with the team”.
That only left observers on social media even more puzzled as to why the Gunners would choose to share such a clip.
One posted: “We all agree the clip didn’t show the club and players in the best light. Looked more like a tick box exercise as opposed to genuinely caring about a young fan.”
Another wrote: “I’m sure she had a great day but you would think that somebody in the media team at Arsenal would have raised a hand and said it wasn’t a great look before they posted it.”
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And TalkTV presenter Morgan said: “Come on guys, at least one of you say hello to her?!!”
Woods later tweeted: “I contacted Arsenal, they explained this was just one interaction on a whole day spent with the team.
“We often don’t hear enough about the good footballers do. But eye contact or a smile also takes no time.”
However, the little girl’s dad backed the Gunners.
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He posted: “My daughter had a lovely time as Mascot for @Arsenal.
“There was only a small window to meet the players and she enjoyed it very much. 
“(Captain Martin) Odegaard is her favourite player so to hold his hand onto the pitch was very special.”
Some fans felt the clip could be misleading, no matter how mechanical it looked.
But one said: “It does make you wonder why they didn’t just choose a clip where the players did interact and talk with the young girl though.”
And another wrote: “One interaction or not, that’s a whole squad completely failed to acknowledge her.
“None had the decency to take their headphones out to have a quick word. It was like, ‘give me the pen so I can get out of this situation as fast as possible’. How the club can’t see that is baffling.” More