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    Nottingham Forest ‘have transfer bid for Houssem Aouar REJECTED by Lyon’ with Leicester also interested in midfielder

    NOTTINGHAM FOREST could lose out to big rivals Leicester for Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar after reportedly having a bid rejected.The France playmaker was linked to Arsenal before Emirates boss Mikel Arteta switched attention to Foxes’ superstar Youri Tielemans.
    Creative Frenchman Houssem Aouar could finally be heading to the Prem, with Forest first to bid but Leicester also keenCredit: Getty
    And it’s claimed in Spain the frontrunners for Aouar are the East Midlands’ two Premier League clubs.
    L’Equipe say the 24-year-old is open to a switch after being eyed by Prem clubs for three summers in a row.
    And with only one season left on his contract, Lyon are expected to finally offload their prize asset.
    Promotion-winning Forest boss Steve Cooper has already signed four midfielders this transfer window.
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    That’s part of a £100million spree on 12 new players.
    But Forest failed to gel in Saturday’s opener, a 2-0 loss at Newcastle.
    And Cooper hopes to add real quality to assist star recruit Jesse Lingard from Manchester United.
    Leicester, though, now appear favourites for Aouar, whose only full cap came two years ago.
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    Missing out on such a technically-gifted player would be the second transfer blow for Forest in two days.
    Real Betis left-back Alex Moreno, 29, U-turned on moving after his Spanish club agreed a £9m fee.
    Leicester, meanwhile, have loaned midfielder Hamza Choudhury to Watford for the season. More

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    Arsenal interested in ANOTHER winger called Pepe as Gunners eye transfer for Porto star valued at around £60m

    ARSENAL are reportedly interested in bringing another Pepe to the club.Ivory Coast international attacker Nicolas Pepe joined the Gunners for a whopping £72million in 2019.
    FC Porto’s Brazilian forward Pepe is wanted by ArsenalCredit: AFP
    But he has failed to shine since his arrival and the club are desperate to get him off the wage bill.
    Sevilla have been linked with the 27-year-old – but Arsenal would need to accept a huge loss on the star.
    However, despite him being a flop, the North London club are allegedly keen on his namesake at Porto.
    Pepe, the 23-year-old Brazilian forward rather than the Portuguese veteran defender, is the man they have their eye on.
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    Newspaper A Bola says that Arsenal made an approach for the South American earlier this summer while thrashing out the deal for his former teammate Fabio Vieira.
    But they were informed that they would need to cough up a figure of around £60m.
    That would have triggered the release clause in his contract.
    Arsenal were then supposed to have registered a bid of £25.3m.
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    That offer was instantly rejected by Porto, who continued to hold out for over double that, and there have been no further bids since.
    But Pepe, according to A Bola, is still “well referenced” by Arsenal.
    They add that the Premier League club “promise to be attentive” to the player’s performances in the Champions League this season.
    And that could lead to them attempting to follow up their interest again next summer. More

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    Yeremy Pino’s agent in transfer talks ‘with several Premier League clubs’ as Arsenal lead race for £34m-rated winger

    YERMEY PINO’s agent is reportedly in talks with several Premier League clubs over a summer move for his client – with Arsenal said to be leading the race.The winger caught the eye of multiple clubs last season with a string of impressive displays for Spanish big boys Villarreal.
    Yeremy Pino’s agent is reportedly in talks with several Premier League clubsCredit: GETTY
    Arsenal are reportedly leading the race to sign the 19-year-oldCredit: Rex
    And according to reports, Pino’s representative has been courted by a number of “important” Prem clubs.
    That’s according to El Periodico Mediterraneo, who claim the teams have held preliminary transfer talks with Spaniard’s reps.
    A formal offer, however, has yet to be tabled by any club – including from Arsenal.
    Gunners boss Mikel Arteta is reportedly eager to add the 19-year-old to his Champions-League-chasing squad before the transfer window shuts.
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    Villarreal are said to have slapped a £67.5million release clause on the forward.
    But it’s been claimed the Yellow Submarine will let the teenager abandon ship if they receive a fee in the region of £34m-£42m for his services.
    Pino, a product of Villarreal’s academy, enjoyed a stellar campaign for Unai Emery’s side last season.
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    The teen scored seven goals and racked up four assists in 40 appearances for the Castellon club – who ended the 2021/22 season in seventh place.
    They also gave Liverpool a scare in the Champions League semi-final.
    Pino and his Villarreal team-mates will kick off their La Liga campaign on Saturday evening, travelling to the Jose Zorrilla Stadium to take on Valladolid.
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    Ex-Arsenal star Bacary Sagna has new job after football retirement after setting up business selling BACKPACKS

    BACARY SAGNA has swapped back fours for backpacks – after the ex-Arsenal star quit football to sell £200 ‘weightless rucksacks’.The former Manchester City defender carried a heavy load during a decade in the Premier League but now helps others travel light after ending his playing journey.
    Bacary Sagna packed a lot into his career and now wants to take the weight off the mind of ramblers with an ultra-light rucksackCredit: PA:Press Association
    Rather than let his career ramble on, the 39-year-old become a partner in French company Gravipack after a chance encounter with founder Mohammed Errafi on a train.
    Ex-France ace Sagna pumped £220,000 into the business and will join a host of ramblers’ groups to show off the firm’s lightweight products.
    Appearing with Errafi on French TV, he tramped around the countryside with walkers and claimed: “This is the biggest challenge of my life outside of football.”
    Errafi recalled how Sagna thought he was crazy when he told the 65-cap icon about his weightless wonders.
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    He said: “In November 2019 I got onto a train at the same time as Bacary Sagna.
    “I told him that I had invented a weightless rucksack.  He burst out laughing, and told me I was mad.
    “I have invented a product that comfortably spreads the load, and brings relief to one’s back.
    “The shoulder straps are unique. Your shoulders feel free, and there is an impressive absence of weight.”
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    Sagna was hardly known for getting into rucks during his playing career.
    In 267 Prem games he bagged four goals and was only sent off once, albeit picking up 29 bookings.
    But now he hopes to rock the rucksack market.
    Sagna left the Etihad for Italians Benevento four years ago but soon left for MLS side Montreal Impact and retired in 2019. More

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    Arsenal continue to offload flops as Pablo Mari seals Monza loan transfer with obligation to buy if club stay in Serie A

    ARSENAL outcast Pablo Mari is reportedly set to return to Italy on loan with the defender reaching a full agreement with Monza.Having spent the second half of last season on loan at Udinese, the 28-year-old has decided to link up with the newly-promoted Serie A side.
    Pablo Mari is set to depart Arsenal to join newly-promoted Serie A side Monza on loanCredit: Getty
    Mari, who was one of seven Gunners up for sale this summer, was deemed surplus to requirements by Mikel Arteta.
    The likes of Gabriel, William Saliba, Ben White and Rob Holding are all ahead of Mari in the pecking order at the Emirates.
    But having failed to offload him on a permanent transfer, the North London outfit have agreed to ship out the Spaniard on another temporary deal.
    However transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has stated that the move will become permanent should Monza survive relegation this campaign.
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    He tweeted: “Arsenal are set to complete another outgoing after Lucas Torreira.
    “Pablo Mari leaves the club and joins Italian Serie A side Monza, full agreement now reached – it’s done.
    “Pablo Marì leaves on loan deal with obligation to buy if Monza will remain in Serie A.”
    Mari follows midfielder Lucas Torreira out the Emirates door after the Uruguayan joined Galatasaray in a £5.5million deal.
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    Goalkeeper Bernd Leno also recently departed the club to link up with Fulham for £8m in his quest to play first team football.
    Meanwhile left-back Nuno Tavares was allowed to leave on loan to Marseille to continue his development following the arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko.
    The Portuguese defender, 22, is one of a number of youngsters who have left on loan recently, with striker Folarin Balgoun snapped up by Reims.
    Both Tavares and Balogun found the back of the net when they played against each other on Sunday, with Marseille winning 4-1.
    Meanwhile teenage midfielder Charlie Patino has joined Championship side Blackpool until the end of the term.
    Mexico international Marcelo Flores will be plying his trade in Spain this season with Segunda Division outfit Real Oviedo.
    And shot-stopper Arthur Okonkwo has signed for League Two club Crewe, where he has already featured three times. More

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    Arteta mind games revealed after he told Arsenal squad Man City tried to ‘HUMILIATE’ you and Brentford think you’re SOFT

    MIKEL ARTETA fired up his Arsenal players by telling them Manchester City tried to ‘humiliate you’ and Brentford reckon you are softies.The Gunners boss exploited taunts from rival players in a string of extreme measures to motivate his squad last term.
    Mikel Arteta used this Ivan Toney tweet to inspire Arsenal in the return after an opening-day 2-0 loss at BrentfordCredit: Prime Video
    Arsenal chief Mikel Arteta Zoomed in for his fiery pep talk against Man CityCredit: Prime Video
    The Spaniard warned his stars Wolves would try “insulting” them.
    And Arteta threw in Pep Guardiola’s tactics for City, as well as the mocking words of Brentford striker Ivan Toney.
    Amazon Prime’s All or Nothing series captured those searing speeches, including a Zoom talk to the Emirates on New Year’s Day when he was at home with Covid.
    Animated and agitated, the ex-City No2 recalled City’s earlier 5-0 win when they went for blood at 2-0 up after Granit Xhaka was sent off.
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    He roared: “I am really sorry I cannot be there because we are going to go to f*****g war, today.
    “One thing guys, be yourselves. I want a game with you face to face [with City]. I want to see [our] players confronting them.
    “When we were at the Emirates, remember what they did…Three-nil down and with 10 players and they went f*****g putting [Riyad] Mahrez and [Raheem] Sterling on the pitch to humiliate you.
    “Let’s f*****g go for it, guys. We are a completely different team and to go from the first minute, think forward, act forward and play forward… every f*****g one of you.
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    “I am proud of you. Let’s go out there and win this f*****g match.”
    Arteta’s men responded with a rousing display, albeit a 2-1 defeat as Arsenal defender Gabriel saw red on the hour and Rodri nipped in for City’s stoppage-time winner.
    One of Arteta’s strongest outbursts was reserved for Wolves a month later.
    He demanded: “Compete, because you know what they are going to do… they are going to dive, they are going to insult you, they are going to provoke you and going to provoke you even more. Let’s go and win this game…”
    Gabriel bundled the only goal before the Gunners held on for victory after Gabriel Martinelli’s unique 69th minute dismissal for two simultaneous yellow cards.
    Later in February Arteta recalled a post from Toney to stir up his men.
    The Englishman’s scathing tweet after the Bees’ 2-0 opening-day win was projected onto a whiteboard and read out  by Arteta like a teacher.
    The Gunners were urged to use Man City’s ‘humiliating’ victory to inspire themCredit: Prime Video
    Arsenal players listened to a series of scoring team talks from Mikel ArtetaCredit: Prime Video
    “Nice. Kick. About. With. The. Boys. This. Afternoon…” 
    Ateta then added his own words: “So, today they play in our house, boys, and there is only one team on that f*****g pitch. And it’s us. Only one team and it’s like they don’t play football.
    “We take that f*****g ball, we take the game and we go for it. And we f*****g win this game. Let’s go…”
    Perhaps it worked as Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka grabbed second-half goals to lift the Gunners close to the top-four with a 2-1 win.
    Arteta’s words didn’t always work, of course – so who knows what his testy talk was like after Arsenal missed out on fourth place to Tottenham on the final day of the season. More

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    Arteta kept dossier on Aubameyang’s ‘catalogue of misdemeanours’ before Chelsea transfer target’s Arsenal axe

    MIKEL ARTETA kept a dossier on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s ‘catalogue of misdemeanours’ before his Arsenal axe.Aubameyang was stripped of the captaincy and the Gunners then ripped up his contract to let the striker, now a Chelsea target, sign for Barcelona in February.
    Aubameyang and Arteta’s relationship started on the right foot as Arsenal won the FA CupCredit: Getty
    The mood soured and Arteta kept a ‘catalogue of misdemeanours’Credit: Rex
    And new footage from All or Nothing: Arsenal reveals director of football Edu struggled to back boss Arteta’s call.
    In the Amazon series, Arteta says: “I have everything documented, with the dates, the times, the conversations, how it happened, why it happened . . . because of if one day it’s needed.
    “[Aubameyang] has been late, apart from all the [other] issues, many times.
    “The club has got a tradition. When you get paid that much . . . ” 
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    Aubameyang, who was paid up to £350,000-a-week including bonuses, was late back after a trip abroad to visit his mother.
    He was ordered to train away from the Gunners’ first-team squad, with a lawyer telling club chiefs that it left them “quite on a back foot”.
    When asked if there were other issues, director of football operations Richard Garlick said: “Mikel has got a file.
    “It’s a catalogue of misdemeanours that he has had, which has culminated in this.” 
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    Edu later admitted “everyone is losing” and said it was not easy to back his boss because of “how many goals Aubameyang scored”. 
    But Arteta got his way after concluding: “You cannot measure trust. 
    “When that’s gone, it’s a really difficult point to get something back from.
    “What happened . . . in the last ten years? 
    “In Spain, it is called ‘casa pepe’ . . . everyone does whatever he f*****g wants.” More

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    Granit Xhaka reveals how ‘freak’ Mikel Arteta saved him from the Arsenal scraphead and convinced him to stay

    GRANIT XHAKA has revealed how his Arsenal career has been saved by the man he calls “a freak”.Because when Mikel Arteta was appointed as manager in December 2019, Swiss international Xhaka was all set to quit the club.
    Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka says frank talks with manager Mikel Arteta turned his Emirates career aroundCredit: Getty
    And it was only a heart to heart conversation with the new arrival which convinced him to give the club one last chance to repair their broken relationship.
    Less than two months previously Xhaka had suffered the ultimate humiliation when he was stripped of the captain’s armband by Unai Emery.
    The fiery midfielder had reacted furiously to the Emirates crowd sarcastically cheering his substitution, hurling his shirt to the ground as he made his way down the tunnel and telling his detractors exactly where they could go.
    He was even more unhappy with the perceived lack of support he received from the club in the immediate aftermath of that incident.

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    And even though Emery was sacked just six games later, Xhaka had already decided that he’d had enough.
    He admits: “Mikel Arteta is the reason I’m still at this football club, because three seasons ago I was gone. My suitcases were packed and I was finished.
    “But when Mikel was appointed I had a meeting with him because he wanted to hear my opinion about what had happened and I explained everything to him.
    “I remember exactly how the conversation went. I told him ‘it has nothing to do with you’ because I didn’t know him and I’d never played with him.
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    “Obviously I knew his name, but not the person, and I said ‘I’m gone, I can’t wear this shirt any more’.
    “And he said to me ‘give me a chance for six months and if you’re still not happy at the end of the season I’m the guy who will help you – not to run away, but to leave’.
    “Normally I would speak with my family and my representatives before making any decision like that.
    “But this time I said ‘OK, Mikel, I will stay for you’. And I’m still here.”
    And not only is Xhaka still at Arsenal, but he is now one of the most important players at the club, even if he cringes at suggestions that he is now the senior statesman of the youngest squad in the Premier League.
    He smiles: “English people make out like I’m a grandfather. I’m 29 man!
    “But then I see the guys of 17 and 18 coming onto the training pitch and I sometimes feel like ‘f*** me…29’.
    “For me, age is just a number. Whether you’re 18, 29 or over 35, all that matters is that you show yourself on the pitch.
    “You only play if you deserve it and I give everyone respect and they give it to me.”
    Xhaka was actually signed as Arteta’s midfield replacement when he was recruited by Arsene Wenger in a £30million deal from Borussia Moenchengladbach in the summer of 2016.
    Now in his seventh season at the club, he says: “I have seen all the good things as well as all the bad stuff, although it was never as bad as people outside the club were saying
    “Of course the group is a lot younger now. Before we had more experienced players but every player has his own character and I have a lot of good relationships with guys, no matter their age or nationality.
    “I don’t believe a lot in the captain’s armband because everyone can see the leaders in the team and there are a lot of good people in this team who can speak with you.
    “If anyone needs my help, they know I am always here, trying to assist with the experiences I’ve already had.
    It’s a shame I only have two more years on my contract because we are building something very special here with Mikel.Granit Xhaka
    “It’s a shame I only have two more years on my contract because we are building something very special here with Mikel and I am seeing a big, big future for this club.”
    One of the stand-out moments of the new Prime Video series ALL or Nothing: Arsenal comes with Xhaka’s  discussing Arteta. 
    He says: “He is a freak, but in a positive way because he sees details none of my other coaches would have seen.”
    Expanding now, Xhaka explains: “What I meant was the way he explains to us the training sessions and the game plans.
    “We know exactly what we have to do, not only the first phase but the second and third, with the ball and without it.
    “How he prepares us is amazing and I have never seen anything like this before.
    “For example, we had a meeting the other day and he showed us one action from our game against Chelsea in pre-season.
    “I was pressing Jorginho, their holding midfielder, and Gabi Martinelli dropped into my position.
    “So normally Gabi is a left winger and the coaches say you have to stay with the right-back or come inside.
    “But Gabi is dropping into the base at number six and that is what makes Mikel so special because he sees things that others don’t
    “I have played for many coaches during my career and they all have their own way. But Mikel is one of the best in the way he explains and prepares.
    Granit Xhaka is buzzing again as a key player in Mikel Arteta’s evolving sideCredit: Getty
    “And in my view, that’s not normal.”
    Xhaka, who celebrates his 30th birthday next month, is currently studying for his coaching badges and laughs: “I’m doing my licence and I’ve told Mikel to be careful.”
    Yet he is having too much fun on the pitch to contemplate retirement any time soon and is still dining out on April’s stunning 25-yard strike in the 3-1 win against Manchester United.
    He says: “That was one of my greatest moments since signing for this club.
    “I never, ever thought I would be sitting here saying that after everything that happened three years ago.
    “But I feel so much more love from the fans and I am trying to build something with them again.
    “It needs time, for sure, but I don’t feel I am a better person than I was three years ago because I think I was always a good person.
    “People judge us on 90 minutes a week but they don’t see how hard we are working in training.
    “Everyone has good and bad days which is why I asked the club if we should allow the fans in once a week to see how we train.
    “It’s not as if we don’t care what happens after the match and we’re coming here to the training ground to waste our time.
    “Apart from that one moment with the Palace game, I have never had any problems at Arsenal. Not with my team-mates, not with anyone in the building.
    “People only remember the one disappointing moment and forget my other five years here.
    “But that’s part of the business and I have nothing to hide. Only on the football pitch do I wear a different mask. And people just have to accept that.”

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