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      Arsenal set to welcome back Matteo Guendouzi as Hertha Berlin ‘unable to afford £29m star’ after impressing in Germany

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      HERTHA BERLIN have accepted that Matteo Guendouzi will return to Arsenal in the summer, according to reports.
      The Frenchman has impressed in the Bundesliga with the capital club losing just two of their last nine as they push away from the relegation zone.

      Matteo Guendouzi is set to head back to Arsenal after enjoying a solid spell in GermanyCredit: AFP

      Under manager Bruno Labbadia, Guendouzi has even scored twice including the opener in a recent 3-0 demolition of Schalke 04.
      According to German outlet Bild, Hertha are putting together a plan to replace the midfielder in the summer.
      Wolfsburg star Yannick Gerhardt is said to be the name of the top of their shortlist.
      While there is no sense that Arsenal will recall the player this month, Berlin do not have a purchase option to make his loan stay permanent.

      Therefore, the club reportedly see it as a fact that Guendouzi will leave at the end of the season, unless they can find around £29million to secure his signature.
      The 21-year-old has been widely praised since heading to Germany, and Labbadia has been delighted with his impact.

      The coach said last month: “[Matteo] is very, very valuable to us. We are happy that we were able to sign him.
      “He’s a very, very good footballer, who has a good sense of space and is technically very strong.

      “Even though he’s young, he gives instructions. He is not at all interested in whether he speaks the language.”
      Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta fell out with Guendouzi last year, before sending him out on loan.

      And the Gunners are planning a mass clear out to trim down their large squad and wage bill, which may or may not include the youngster.
      Mesut Ozil is out of contract in June and expected to leave North London, along with Sokratis Papastathopoulos.
      The exits have already begun with Sead Kolasinac loaned to Schalke at the start of January.
      ⚽ Read our Arsenal live blog for the latest news from The Emirates

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      Arsenal to snub West Ham transfer bid for Eddie Nketiah as Hammers look to young star as Sebastian Haller replacement

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      ARSENAL will snub interest from West Ham in striker Eddie Nketiah, according to reports.
      The Hammers were said to be eyeing the 21-year-old as a replacement for Sebastien Haller, who joined Ajax in a shock £25million deal on Friday.

      Arsenal will snub interest from West Ham in striker Eddie NketiahCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

      However, David Moyes will have to look elsewhere for a new frontman, with the Gunners expected to keep hold of Nketiah this month.
      Sky Italia transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reports Arsenal have no intention of selling the England under-21 international.
      Nketiah has entered the final 18 months of his contract at the Emirates, and has struggled for game time in recent weeks following the resurgent form of Alexandre Lacazette.
      ⚽ Read our Arsenal live blog for the latest news from The Emirates

      The former Leeds loanee hasn’t featured at all for the Gunners in the Premier League since their 2-1 defeat at Everton in December.
      He was also an unused substitute in Saturday’s 2-0 extra-time win over Newcastle in the FA Cup third round.
      Nketiah’s future at Arsenal could also influence Folarin Balogun’s decision-making.
      The 19-year-old is expected to leave the Gunners on a free transfer this summer, with several clubs in Europe said to be interested.

      With a move for Nketiah seemingly dead in the water, West Ham look set to turn their attention to the Championship in their search for a replacement for Haller.
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      The Hammers have been linked with Bournemouth’s Josh King as well as Watford forward Ismaila Sarr.
      King, 28, was the subject of a £13m bid from West Ham in the summer transfer window, but will face competition from Everton and West Brom in the race to sign the Norwegian, whose contract expires at the end of the season.
      While reports this week suggested the Irons were weighing up a £30m offer for 22-year-old Sarr, who can play out wide or through the middle.

      Eddie Nketiah shows what he is made of at Arsenal training More

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      Former Arsenal transfer target Cristian Pavon denies rape claims with Boca Juniors star accusing ‘victim’ of extortion

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      FORMER Arsenal target Cristian Pavon has angrily denied being a rapist.
      The Argentine international was accused of sexually attacking a woman who used social media to publicise her claims against him.

      Cristian Pavon is skippered by Lionel Messi at international levelCredit: AFP

      The 24-year-old winger – who starred alongside Lionel Messi at the 2018 World Cup and was linked with Watford and Fulham as well as the Gunners – has counter-attacked by calling on a judge to charge his accuser with extortion after the allegations were made public.
      Pavon, back with club side Boca Juniors after a loan spell with LA Galaxy during which team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic said he was ‘too good’ for the MLS, has not been arrested. 
      The woman at the centre of the ongoing rape probe identified herself in an Instagram post in which she appeared to suggest the alleged rape had happened some time ago and she had received little backing from Boca.
      She wrote: “This person does not deserve to be in the club and because of his bad acts he should face justice.

      “I’ve been dealing with all sorts of situations for the past year and trying to heal wounds and get the courts to act.
      “What’s wrong with the club I support? They should take action. I can’t stand so much hypocrisy any more.”
      Alongside a photo of Pavon, she added: “God will act as well. All I ask is that justice is just. What this person did to me has got no name.
      “A year of suffering, a year to try to put this behind me and a year to get stronger. I’m not going to have pity as you didn’t have pity with me.”

      She also posted a selfie taken in hospital a year ago, supposedly after the rape she claims she was the victim of, and wrote: “After that episode I was very fearful of reprisals because I knew he was a well-known player and I decided to return to my home city.
      “Things started becoming difficult for me and then the pandemic arrived. 
      “Today I’m stronger and can turn to the courts as should be the case.”
      The rape complaint is being investigated by a court in Alta Gracia in the province of Cordoba where Pavon hails from.
      Sources close to the footballer said he had already made a voluntary statement before returning to Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires for the start of the new league tournament.
      He posted a family picture just before New Year, showing him surrounded by his loved ones including girlfriend Victoria Carante and looking happy and relaxed.
      Overnight he followed it up by posting a statement from his lawyers rebutting the rape claims.
      PAVON’S DENIAL
      The statement, drafted by a firm called Gramatica-Ferrari-Gramatica, said: “The allegation about Mr Pavon is false. 
      “That’s why Mr Pavon has made a formal complaint to the relevant prosecution service stating he has been the victim of extortion and a false allegation. 
      “In terms of his extortion complaint, Mr Pavon was summonsed as a witness and provided all the information he was able to supply.
      “With regards to the complaint against him, all we can add is that Mr Pavon presented himself voluntarily to the relevant prosecutors and said he would make himself available to co-operate with the investigation and prove his innocence.
      “Mr Pavon and his family are calm and are confident the courts will act appropriately and the truth will come out along with the illegitimate interests behind this false allegation against him.”
      Pavon’s stunning girlfriend has made no public comment about the claims since they became public, but showed her love for her partner with a series of romantic posts over Christmas and the New Year.

      In one on Christmas Day, alongside a photograph of them cuddling, she posted from the account Viccarante: “What a privilege it is to have you in my life. 
      “My wish is that you smile at me like this always. I love you a lot. Happy Christmas love of my life.”
      In another the brunette, whose romance with Pavon became public knowledge while he was in LA, added: “Who would have said I was going to meet you like this, by chance, and that now you’d mean everything to me. 
      “Thank you for arriving and staying. I love you.”

      Cristian Pavon also played alongside former Manchester United and West Ham frontman Javier Hernandez while he was on loan at LA Galaxy.
      He is said to be eyeing a move to Europe despite his return to Boca Juniors.
      He first signed for Boca in July 2014 and has 11 caps for Argentina.
      Arsenal were reportedly priced out of a move for the winger ahead of his loan to LA Galaxy after being told they would have to cough up £40million.
      Rape in Argentina carries a jail sentence of between eight and 20 years.

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      Mesut Ozil happy to leave Arsenal this transfer window… if Gunners still pay him £68K A WEEK until summer 2023

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      MESUT OZIL will offer Arsenal the chance to get him out of the club this month – by spreading payment of the rest of his contract over the next three years.
      Ozil has options to leave the Emirates during the transfer window but the Gunners would need to cough up the remainder of his £350,000-a-week deal which still has six months to run.

      Mesut Ozil could be prepared to settle a long-term payment plan to stretch out his huge salaryCredit: Getty Images – Getty

      The World Cup winner is in no mood to sacrifice the remaining £8.75million of the wages due to him just so Arsenal can get him off their wage bill with Fenerbahce and DC United both interested in his signature.
      But SunSport understands he would be prepared to help the club out.
      That would be by reaching a deal which would see them reduce their weekly payments to him to £68,000 until the summer of 2023.
      Though that would see Arsenal having to keep Ozil, 32, on their wage bill for another two-and-a-half years, it would reduce their immediate wage commitment to the midfielder by £1.2m-A-MONTH.

      With Premier League clubs being bitten hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, that long-term payment plan might be attractive to the bean counters at the Emirates.
      The other option would be to come up with a cash offer covering the vast majority of the six months left on the former Real Madrid star’s contract, otherwise he is likely to stay put until the summer.
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      Turkish club Fenerbahce are working hard to try to sign Ozil but an agreement is far from in place.

      That is despite Ozil falling victim to an online hoax which purported to be one of his charities seemingly announcing a deal had been done with Fenerbahce.
      The MLS is a possible next destination, with Wayne Rooney’s former club DC United making their interest known and opening talks over securing a deal to take him Stateside.    
      ⚽ Read our Arsenal live blog for the latest news from The Emirates

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      Mesut Ozil and Arsenal ‘begin contract termination talks’ with £350k-a-week star ‘owed £7.2m’ ahead of Fenerbahce move

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      MESUT OZIL and Arsenal have reportedly begun talks to terminate his contract with the £350,000-a-week outcast still owed £7.2million ahead of a move to Fenerbahce.
      Turkish journalist Yagiz Sabuncuoglu, sports correspondent at TRT, reports the Gunners and Ozil have begun discussing terms for cancelling his deal which expires in the summer.

      Mesut Ozil is reportedly brokering his Arsenal exit packageCredit: Getty Images – Getty

      And the report states there is still £7.2m left on the German World Cup winner’s bumper deal.
      Ozil, 32, has the option to waive some of the cash he is due or he can hold firm and demand the full amount he is entitled to from the North Londoners.
      Sabuncuoglu suggests talks are taking place TODAY ahead of a ‘solution in a short time’.
      Former Real Madrid playmaker Ozil has 25 weeks left on the books of Mikel Arteta’s side.

      And the club fear he may snub a January move to collect his full wages and the hefty loyalty bonus he will be due come June.
      Reports in Turkey claim Fenerbahce have agreed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Ozil worth £90,000 a week.
      But the Super Lig club are £275m in debt and have already asked fans to donate towards their wage bill.
      Arsenal’s £42.5m signing in 2013 has also been linked with a move to join DC United in time for the new MLS season in March.

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      Ozil is still training with Arsenal despite not featuring for nine monthsCredit: Getty Images – Getty

      Ozil could link up with some familiar faces at Fenerbahce with his potential new team-mates including ex-Newcastle forward Papiss Cisse.
      He is free to talk to foreign sides after entering the last six months of his deal.
      It is nine months since Ozil last played for the Gunners and he is not included in either the Premier or Europa League squads.
      Ozil’s agent Dr Erkut Sogut said: “His priority is to stay at Arsenal but things can change very fast in football and he might go, so we are checking all the options for this month and for the summer.”
      ⚽ Read our Arsenal live blog for the latest news from The Emirates

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      Arsenal must shift deadwood in January transfer window before summer splurge with four players linked with exits

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      IT IS ‘that’ time of year again, crazy season, the January transfer window.
      Because of the unusual end to last season and the consequent later summer window we find ourselves back here swiftly.

      Arsenal need to ship out plenty of the deadwood including £350,000-a-week outcast Mesut OzilCredit: AFP – Getty

      The mid-season opportunity to strengthen is, of course, always trickier for clubs, with value harder to find and for Arsenal, Edu and Mikel Arteta, it will be no different.
      However, Arsenal’s cause has been helped considerably by three back-to-back wins, which will make the task for those selling a move to the Emirates that much easier.
      The prospect now is to sign for a project that is blending quality experience with exciting young talent.
      I feel therefore this window should be more about replacing the exiting experience with better quality experience as opposed to bolstering an already-exciting tranche of younger players.

      With the likes of Sead Kolasinac, Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis and maybe even Mesut Ozil departing, regardless of our individual views on their ability, Arteta is losing some elder statesmen.
      If he and Edu are to bring in new players for this squad, they surely must be players in their mid-20s approaching their peak and ideally, for me at least, Premier League ready.
      In reality, Arteta has seniority and experience in attack with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette and in defence he still has David Luiz to mentor his younger peers for the remainder of the campaign.
      Hector Bellerin too is the club’s longest-serving active squad member and Kieran Tierney, Pablo Mari, Gabriel and Rob Holding are all seasoned professionals.

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      Where he lacks quality and experience combined is in the midfield area and particularly at the creative end.
      Mohamed Elneny is a good squad stalwart, Dani Ceballos is talented but young and not our player, Joe Willock is an enigma and his box-to-box attributes do not really fit, Willian seems a failed gamble and Emile Smith Rowe is super talented yet untested and injury prone.
      With Matteo Guendouzi unlikely to earn a reprieve, that leaves only Lucas Torreira, who could be recalled, Arteta’s go-to man Granit Xhaka and the big hope, Thomas Partey.
      The Swiss is not perhaps every fan’s favourite, but he is vastly experienced in a squad bereft of that valued commodity in a key area of the pitch.
      Therefore, in this window I believe Edu will have been tasked with potentially bringing in two midfielders.
      One of creative disposition to share the creative load with Smith Rowe centrally and to mentor the young Englishman.
      The second in my honest opinion, will be the long-term central midfield partner of choice for Thomas Partey.
      I strongly believe that 2020-21 will be the last season where Xhaka is first choice and Arteta needs a true defensive midfielder, but with more mobility and pace than the Swiss international.

      I am not saying they will be the players, but it is this rationale that sees Arsenal linked to Emi Buendia and Julian Brandt for need number one and Yves Bissouma for need number two.
      I favour the Argentine, purely as he is more used to the English leagues and the Brighton player seems a perfect foil for Partey in the longer term.
      Idrissa Gueye, who is unsettled at PSG, also fits the profile perfectly.
      Any activity comes down to available money and reducing the wage bill and I think with the exits being primarily loans, until the summer at least, Arteta too may have to utilise that medium this month.
      If we can bring in only one of the two now, then I think it needs to be the experienced link between the midfield and attack to challenge Smith Rowe.

      Thomas Partey needs a partner in holding midfield while Emile Smith Rowe needs competition in the No10 roleCredit: Getty Images – Getty

      Emi Buendia is a transfer target from Norwich but the Gunners may have to wait until the summerCredit: Rex Features

      Yves Bissouma would be a better option than Granit Xhaka alongside ParteyCredit: Getty Images – Getty
      This window is about balancing the books, trimming the wage bill, and moving on the players Arteta does not see in his plans.
      If he and Edu can do that and push on with the current group, then I believe the board will back the duo in the summer window.
      As so often in the latter years of Arsene Wenger, the squad is only one or two quality players away from being one capable of challenging.
      The difference now is that Arteta does acknowledge the weaknesses I believe, and he genuinely has a more exciting core of young talent than any new manager inherited since George Graham in 1987.
      If he can show he can develop and integrate these young stars for the remainder of this season I am confident KSE will back him come June to supplement with high quality.
      ⚽ Read our Arsenal live blog for the latest news from The Emirates

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      Tottenham battling Arsenal for Marcel Sabitzer transfer but RB Leipzig won’t sell £30m-rated star until the summer

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      TOTTENHAM boss Jose Mourinho has earmarked Marcel Sabitzer as a major transfer target, according to reports.
      The RB Leipzig midfielder has emerged into the primetime with the club, having joined while they were second-tier in 2014.

      Marcel Sabitzer showed Tottenham his worth last season with two goals past them in the Champions LeagueCredit: Getty Images – Getty

      And his rise with last year’s Champions League semi-finalists has reportedly alerted Tottenham and Arsenal to his abilities.
      According to The Athletic, Mourinho is a big fan of Sabitzer and the midfielder is seen as ready-made for the coach’s setup.
      A role alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is thought to be perfect for the Leipzig captain.
      Mourinho was able to do his own scouting report on Sabitzer in March’s last-16 defeat to Leipzig in the Champions League, the second leg seeing him score twice.

      A January transfer is seen as unlikely given Leipzig’s Bundesliga title tilt.
      Julian Nagelsmann’s side are two points off leaders Bayern Munich ahead of the weekend’s games, which includes Leipzig hosting fourth-place Borussia Dortmund.

      The club have said that there would be no contract talks during the season. So I’m fully focused on playing a successful season.
      Marcel Sabitzer

      Mourinho has also discussed his pessimism at being able to improve his side in January.
      Therefore a summer switch is seen as most likely with Sabitzer’s contract expiring in June 2022, potentially reducing his fee as low as £30million.

      The player stated last month: “If I read my contract correctly, it expires in June 2022, which means it runs for another 18 months. We’ll have to see about everything else.
      “I’m just doing my job. We have a game every three days, that’s exhausting enough.
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      “The club have said that there would be no contract talks during the season. So I’m fully focused on playing a successful season and don’t think about what will happen later on at all.”
      Leipzig sporting director Markus Krosche has admitted that bids may soon be landing for the midfielder.
      He recently told Bild: “[Sabitzer] has made a great development.
      “It goes without saying that other clubs also notice this.”

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      Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha talks for first time over failed Arsenal transfer and admits ‘they chose Pepe over me’

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      WILFRIED ZAHA has accepted that Arsenal chose Nicolas Pepe ‘over him’ following a failed move to the club.
      Following a summer transfer saga with Crystal Palace, the Gunners opted against signing the winger in 2019.

      Wilfried Zaha has revealed how his move to Arsenal fell throughCredit: Getty Images – Getty

      The Gunners chose Nicolas Pepe instead but the Ivorian has struggled in North LondonCredit: PA:Press Association

      Instead, they paid Lille £72million for the club record capture of Pepe.
      And Zaha has opened up on the deal after missing out on a move to his boyhood favourites to his Ivory Coast international team-mate.
      He told Jamie Carragher’s The Greatest Game Podcast: “I had a conversation with the manager actually.
      “[Unai] Emery was just like, ‘We don’t really need to go through much’. “He said he’d seen me play, he knows I can change games at any time and stuff like that.

      “He was like, ‘Yeah we’d love to have you’ and I was just like, ‘Yeah I’d love to come’.
      “The conversation was rather straightforward because I played against him when he was manager of Arsenal.
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      It was up to the club who they chose. And they chose Pepe over me.
      Wilfried Zaha

      “He saw what I could do, saw my work-rate, and what I could add to the team.”

      He added: “Obviously, it was up to the club who they chose.
      “And they chose Pepe over me.”
      Emery failed to get the best out of Pepe and was sacked part way through the winger’s first campaign in North London.
      However, Mikel Arteta has also struggled with the 25-year-old and publicly lambasted his red card versus Leeds in November.
      Zaha, 28, remains with Palace and was also quiet last season before finding form again in recent months – hitting eight goals in 15 games.

      And he admitted his feeling that players from abroad are often favoured for big money transfers.
      The forward stated: “You’re seeing a player come from Brazil or another league – they’re always going to attract more attention.
      “But, I just think if there’s a player that plays in the Premier League, you see him week in, week out. You know what he does.
      “I feel like it’s a no-brainer. The other leagues are totally different.”
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