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    Lacazette ‘ready to run down Arsenal contract with Atletico Madrid preparing free transfer for striker’

    ATLETICO MADRID are keeping tabs on Arsenal star Alexandre Lacazette who is set to run down his contract, reports suggest.Lacazette’s deal with the Gunners expires next year in June and negotiations with the club’s hierarchy are not moving towards the right direction.
    Arsenal star Alexandre Lacazette has been linked with a move to Atletico MadridCredit: Getty
    According to Le 10 Sport, Atletico are ready to pounce on the opportunity to sign the striker next summer on a free transfer ahead of his likely departure from the Emirates.
    Atleti have been closely monitoring the France international ever since he played for Lyon.
    The Spanish champions are still interested in the 30-year-old and appear as a likely destination after he leaves the north Londoners.
    The Madrid giants are still in touch with the Frenchman’s representatives and are even preparing the ground for his potential arrival.
    Atletico came just a whisker away from signing Lacazette in 2017 before the centre-forward put pen to paper with Arsenal.
    The forward agreed to join Diego Simeone’s side but the move never materialised as the LaLiga giants were struggling with transfer restrictions at the time.

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    FIFA had banned the LaLiga outfit from signing players after they were found guilty of breaking international transfer rules for Under-16s.
    And thus, Lacazette joined Arsenal in the same year for a then club record £46.5million.
    He has since registered a total of 67 goals and 29 assists in 173 appearances across all competitions.
    But the ex-Lyon star has only managed three matches this season and his future at the Emirates appears to be uncertain.
    However, manager Mikel Arteta insists he is not keen on letting Lacazette go.
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    Arsenal on red alert over Marco Asensio transfer as Real Madrid outcast ‘set for showdown talks with Carlo Ancelotti’

    ARSENAL have been put on red alert with Real Madrid winger Marco Asensio set to hold showdown talks with Carlo Ancelotti.The Gunners have been linked with the Spaniard for some time and could finally land their man in January.
    Marco Asensio is set for showdown talks with Real Madrid boss Carlo AncelottiCredit: Getty
    Long-tipped to become a star at the Bernabeu, Asensio, 25, returned from a long spell out injured to feature 48 times last season, scoring seven times.
    But he has only featured five times this term – for a grand total of 69 minutes.
    And he will hold talks with Ancelotti over his future soon, according to Spanish journalist Antón Meana.
    He told El Larguero: “If Marco Asensio continues to have a completely residual role as if he were Isco or Marcelo, the season will be long and the club-coach, coach-footballer, footballer-club talks will be repeated.
    “It is a situation that is already beginning to be complicated and we are in the middle of September.”
    Real Madrid are also building funds to bid for Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, meaning Asensio is reportedly seen as a prime candidate for a January sale.

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    Leeds, Leicester and Everton have all been named by Spanish reports as Arsenal’s main competition for Asensio.
    Meana added: “There is the Marco Asensio case – this week seems key.
    “Marco is not Isco, Marco is not Marcelo. Marco has offers, Marco is not finished and, therefore, neither he nor his representatives understand the role Ancelotti gives him.
    “His strange obsession of seeing him in the game at 4-3-3 when he has never played there.
    “Although they don’t blame anyone for now, least of all Ancelotti, this week seems key.
    “He was untouchable since he returned from Espanyol on loan.
    ⚽ Read our Arsenal live blog for the latest news and transfer gossip from The Emirates
    “He was the player who had the most offers from all over Europe and Zinedine Zidane asked him to stay and play 40 games with Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema or Gareth Bale.
    “Before the summer, Asensio’s representatives said the future of the Balearic footballer depended on Ancelotti.
    “But Ancelotti has not given him much ball. It seems like a difficult year for Asensio.”

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    Arsenal ‘lining up £20m transfer bid for Noa Lang with 22-year-old Club Brugge winger impressing in Champions League’

    ARSENAL are preparing to bid £20million for Club Brugge winger Noa Lang, according to reports.The 22-year-old Dutch winger enjoyed a sensational campaign with the Belgian side last season, scoring 17 goals and assisting 11 as Brugge won the title by a huge 16 points.
    Lang has been sensational for Club Brugge over the past 12 monthsCredit: Getty
    Lang has carried that superb form into the start of the new season where he has already netted four times and laid on another four assists.
    And he also caught the eye in the Champions League last week when he was named man of the match in their 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain.
    Lang, who features predominantly on the left wing, is a product of the Ajax youth set-up but left the club in 2020 having made just 14 appearances for the Eredivisie side.
    His development at Brugge has been a rapid one and now Fichajes are reporting that he is being looked at as an option for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.
    The Gunners were the biggest Premier League spenders in the recent summer transfer window, splashing around £150m on a number of new signings.
    Ben White, Aaron Ramsdale, Martin Odegaard, Nuno Tavares, Albert Lokongo and Takehiro Tomiyasu all arrived through the door.

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    And things have begun to improve for the club as they bounced back from three defeats in a row at the start of the Premier League campaign with two successive victories.
    Arteta’s side followed up their narrow 1-0 win over Norwich with another slender victory at Burnley.
    And the Gunners manager spoke after the game about how he has taken some inspiration from TV show Ted Lasso which follows an American football coach as he heads to London to take over a struggling team.
    He told Arsenal.com: “The last show that I am watching now is Ted Lasso, and it’s been great.

    “It’s been great in tough, difficult moments for his approach – how he deals with situations always with a smile, always believing.
    “He gives you a different perspective, there is not just one way of looking at things – there are positives and negatives and there are people who manage in a really successful way to do it differently.
    “So thanks Ted, you’ve been brilliant.”
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    Bukayo Saka ‘starting to receive several transfer approaches’ but Arsenal consider England star ‘untouchable’

    BUKAYO SAKA is reportedly starting to receive transfer approaches from several clubs.Fabrizio Romano claims the England star has been ‘approached’ by a few teams after becoming a key man for club and country.
    Several clubs are interested in Bukayo Saka but Arsenal will not part waysCredit: Getty
    However, Arsenal have no intention of selling Saka as they consider him ‘untouchable’.
    Despite only turning 20 years old this month, Saka has already clocked up 93 appearances for the Gunners, making his debut as a 17 year old in November 2018.
    Having played as a wing-back, Saka now looks to have cemented his place in Mikel Arteta’s front three.
    But that hasn’t stopped several clubs from registering their interest.
    Romano told the HereWeGo podcast: “Some clubs are starting to approach Bukayo Saka, as he’s one of the best players in his position for the future.”
    But unfortunately for the suitors, Arsenal will not be parting ways with Saka any time soon.

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    Romano added: “Arsenal consider him untouchable. They are planning to build on players like Saka.”
    One man full of praise for the Ealing-born ace is Folarin Balogun’s brother Royce.

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    He told the What The Footie? podcast: “Bukayo’s one of the best young ballers I’ve seen.
    “He’s sky-rockted and never given up or got jaded by the success he’s had.
    “If you keep going you just have to take your chances when you get them.”
    ⚽ Read our Arsenal live blog for the latest news and transfer gossip from The Emirates
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    Everton readying £14.4m transfer offer for Arsenal’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles and will ‘revive interest’ in January

    EVERTON are interested in signing Arsenal star Ainsley Maitland-Niles for £14.4million in January, according to reports.It’s believed the versatile player, 24, was close to moving to Goodison Park in the summer before a deal was blocked late on by the Gunners.
    Everton want to sign Ainsley Maitland-Niles from ArsenalCredit: Getty
    According to ESPN, Maitland-Niles was set to join Everton on deadline day but remained at the Emirates after talks with manager Mikel Arteta.
    Reports claim the Toffees will now try to sign the player permanently in January to give new manager Rafael Benitez more options.
    Maitland-Niles is capable of playing anywhere in midfield and can also offer competition for incumbent Everton right-back Seamus Coleman.
    The Arsenal ace is valued at £14.4m by Transfermarkt and has two years remaining on his existing Emirates deal.
    Maitland-Niles hit out at Arsenal on Instagram in August, writing: “All I wanna do is go where I’m wanted and where I’m gonna play.”
    He was reportedly banished from first-team training after the outburst but is thought to be back in the manager’s plans.

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    Maitland-Niles made just 11 Premier League appearances for the Gunners last term and spent the second half of the season on loan at West Brom.
    The five-cap England international has been at Arsenal since 2003, playing 123 senior games for the club in all competitions to date.
    Maitland-Niles has won the FA Cup and Community Shield twice during his time at the Emirates and has also spent time on loan at Ipswich Town.
    Boss Arteta has insisted the player remains in his plans despite the lack of game time under his leadership.
    The Spanish coach said: “Any private conversations with players, on the role we believe they can have in the team, is always discussed openly but privately and that is how we resolve the matters.
    “I am happy he has stayed, that was our intention and he is another player in the squad.”

    Ainsley Maitland-Niles shows off his skills on the Arsenal training pitch More