Arsenal transfer news

MIKEL ARTETA will be sitting in the directors’ box when Arsenal visit Aston Villa on Saturday — and they had better be ready to beef up their security.The last time these teams met at Villa Park, the rival tech nerds had a proper punch-up in the stands, which resulted in Villa’s head of performance analysis Victor Manas getting a three-match stadium ban and an £8,000 fine.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta will be watching the match against Aston Villa from the standsCredit: Reuters
So sticking the volatile Arteta into the mix is only going to pour petrol on the flames of an already bitter feud.
The Arsenal boss collected his third yellow card of the season for the unspeakable crime of “excessively celebrating” Tuesday’s 4-3 stoppage-time victory at Luton.
It means he will be banished from his usual position an inch from the side of the pitch this weekend.
And that might just come as a blessed relief for his players accustomed to a 90-minute ear-bashing from football’s ultimate micro-manager.
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Yet there can be no doubt that Arteta’s methods are working and  all those people awaiting another Arsenal collapse are going to be sorely disappointed.
Because there is a steely determination about these Gunners, which we haven’t seen for a very long time. Declan Rice’s 97th-minute winner at Kenilworth Road was their seventh stoppage-time goal this season.
Maybe we should start calling it “Mikki time” because if you add three more goals netted in the final five minutes it means an extra nine points for the table toppers.
They have the meanest defence and the best away record in the Premier League and will provide the ultimate test for Villa’s 14-game winning streak at home.
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So throw in Unai Emery’s lingering bitterness over the way he was dismissed by Arsenal to make way for Arteta and we have all the ingredients for a proper grudge match.
Villa’s incredible transformation under Emery has prompted some observers to suggest Arsenal would be champions by now if he had been allowed to continue in the job.
But that’s a grotesque rewriting of history because Arsenal were an absolute shambles when the axe fell on Emery four years ago and Arteta had to completely rip up the squad he inherited to sort out the mess.
He might have spent around £600million to get the Gunners to the top of the league but there has hardly been a duff signing among them.
The upcoming Premier League clash involves a lot of history for Arteta and Unai EmeryCredit: Getty
And the soundest investment of the lot has been the club-record £105m spent last summer to buy England international Rice.
Because even at that eye-watering price, there hasn’t been a better buy in 2023 than the 24-year-old central midfielder who has transformed Arsenal’s title prospects.
A group of “hilarious”  fans have even set up a GoFundMe page to pay West Ham an extra £25m for their former captain.
Yes, Rice really has been that good, a guaranteed seven or eight out of ten every week.
He will be crucial at Villa Park and at Anfield in two weeks for a potential title decider.
Win those two games and Arsenal could be nine points ahead of champions Manchester City by Christmas.
Pep Guardiola will point out his team were further behind at one point last season yet still won the league.
But this time it feels different because one team is conceding late goals and the other is scoring them.
City have become gorged on success. Arsenal are still hungry for glory.
UNITED’S BAD CALL
MANCHESTER UNITED claim they banned a number of journalists because they didn’t call the club before running a story that Erik ten Hag has lost the dressing room.
And if those reporters had actually asked United to check out the information, I’m sure they would have been told: “Yes, you’re right, the players all hate the boss and they are trying to get him out.”
Many years ago, a  famous manager once rang to complain that I had not checked out a story with him.
Yet even when I pointed out that he had blatantly lied the previous time I had put in a check call, he still couldn’t understand why he wasn’t given the opportunity to carry on telling porkies.
HARRY MAG-WHY
SO Harry Maguire has been named the Premier League Player of the Month for November — because Manchester United beat mighty Fulham, Luton and Everton.
Good job they didn’t take into account seven Champions League goals conceded against Copenhagen and Galatasaray. Or three they shipped at home to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup.
And has Maguire really been the best player in the top flight — or simply less s**t than he was at the start of the season?
JARVO IS NO JOKE
YOUTUBE ‘prankster’  Daniel ‘Jarvo’ Jarvis was at it again, sabotaging the Euros draw in Hamburg with sex noises.
It was the latest stunt from the Colin Hunt of sport who has disrupted football, cricket and rugby events  — and was once jailed for a fake robbery.
Only last year he was handed a suspended sentence for running on to The Oval pitch and colliding with Jonny Bairstow.
Time for another spell in solitary for this tiresome attention seeker.
GI’S COP UPSET
THE RIDICULOUS Gianni Infantino popped up at Cop28 in Dubai the other day because he says climate change and sustainability are vital to Fifa.
So important that he has recently awarded the 2030 World Cup to six nations spread across three different  continents 6,000 miles apart.
What an eco-warrior he is…
EURO DISEASE
REMEMBER when ­football hooliganism used to be known as “the English disease”?
Nowadays it seems  we’re just about the only country whose fans are not intent on smashing up every European city they visit.
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Legia Warsaw thugs caused mayhem at Villa Park last week.
Our knuckleheads are all too busy protecting statues. More

ARSENAL are tracking Hajduk Split star Rokas Pukstas as they consider making the teenager their next American signing.Pukstas is an attacking midfielder who does his best work inside the box.
Arsenal are tracking Hajduk Split and USA international Rokas PukstasCredit: Getty
The 19-year-old has been dubbed the next Thomas MullerCredit: Getty
The USA Under-20 international has been likened to Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller for his ability to sniff out chances and fulfil a variety of roles.
The son of a former Lithuanian Olympic athlete, he came through the Sporting Kansas City youth set-up and spent time at FC Barcelona’s only stateside academy before moving to Europe.
Pukstas made swift progress through the Hajduk Split youth teams and impressed dozens of scouts from major clubs when he scored in last season’s UEFA Youth League semi-final win over AC Milan.
Now an established first-team regular, the Gunners could come knocking for him next year.
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The club keeps tabs on many talented American players with breakout potential.
Arsenal have actively recruited from across the Pond since Arsene Wenger was in charge.
The list of those who made North London their first stop across the Atlantic includes Daniel Karbassiyoon, Gedion Zelalem, Matt Turner and Auston Trusty.
Karbassiyoon, who joined the Gunners in 2003, is now a senior figure in the club’s recruitment department.
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Owner Stan Kroenke knows the marketing potential of having a current US star on the club’s books and Pukstas appears to be on the right trajectory.
The 19-year-old scored his third goal of the campaign with an audacious near-post flick last month to give the Gunners a timely reminder of his ability ahead of the January transfer window.
Croatian newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija reported Arsenal would have a representative at Hajduk’s game against Gorica on Saturday where the youngster performed well in a routine 3-0 home win. More

IAN WRIGHT made time to troll Tottenham star James Maddison after going berserk following Arsenal’s late winner against Luton.The Gunners were pegged back by Luton twice until the Hatters took a 3-2 lead through Ross Barkley in the 57th minute.
Ian Wright was buzzing with Arsenal’s winnerCredit: Optus Sport
He showed the panel how he had just been reading an article on how Maddison had said he hates that Rice plays for Arsenal
Rice and Maddison are pals from their England commitmentsCredit: Instagram

A Kai Havertz equaliser on the hour mark set the game up for a grandstand finale.
But it took the Gunners until the 97th minute to find the winner through Declan Rice.
Wright was on punditry duty for Australian channel Optus Sport, who tweeted out his reaction to the goal.
After going mad over the winner, Wright sat down to show the panel what he had been looking at on his phone.
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Wright said: “Look at this! Look what I was just looking at.”
The former Arsenal striker then pulled up an article he had been reading on how Maddison had described Rice as a “top player” and “hated” him moving to Arsenal this summer.
Rice pulled up the article and quoted Maddison saying “I hate that he plays for Arsenal” before breaking out into a hearty laugh.
He then broke out into a chant of: “Arsenal! Arsenal!”
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Rice’s last gasp goal puts the Gunners five points clear at the top of the table.
Liverpool can close the gap back to two if they win at struggling Sheffield United tonight.
Meanwhile champions Manchester City could close their gap on Arsenal to three points if they win tonight… But face a difficult trip away to Aston Villa.
Villa currently have the best home form in the Premier League, winning 13 consecutive Premier League matches dating back to last season. More