Arsenal

Arsenal boss Unai Emery says Mesut Ozil still has a role to play at the club. The German returned to the match day squad in Saturday's win over Chelsea, after he was left out of the preceding squad against West Ham United. Ozil has been linked with an exit from the Emirates due to his limited playing time over the last two months. But Emery insists he remains important to his plans. "He was on Saturday okay to play, but we decided not play [him]," Emery said. "I spoke with him also and I want to him be ready for the match today, for the next matches like all the players in the team. Against Chelsea, I have the confidence in him if he played, I think he could do like we want and the next matches we are going to need every player and also his quality."

English Premier League side Arsenal are no longer alone in the race to secure the service of French Ligue 1 outfit Lyon midfielder Tanguy Ndombele in this winter transfer window. The North London outfit are set to battle Juventus, Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton, Barcelona and Man City for the star player who is believed to have impressed this season. Juventus who are latest to join in the race are currently seeking to land a replacement for the likes of Sami Khedira and Blaise Matuidi who are already ageing and could be on their ways out of the club anytime soon. The France international has caught the attention of most of this big sides and he is tipped to be able to play at the big stage in any of the top European leagues. However, the North London side are keen to land him as well in order to replace Wales international Aaron Ramsey who is on his way out of the club when his contract expires at the end of the season. Tanguy Ndombele has therefore played 27 games across a...

Arsenal manager Unai Emery has admitted that his sides chances of finishing in the top four will be all but over if they lose to Chelsea at the Emirates tonight. The Gunners excellent 22 game unbeaten run now seems a long time ago, with the North London outfit taking just seven points from their last seven Premier League fixtures. Emery’s side are currently fifth in the table, six points behind fourth placed Chelsea. Speaking to the press ahed of tonights crunch clash Emery was asked about the possibility of Chelsea opening up a nine point gap between the sides and whether it would effectively end Arsenal’s chances of making the top four, to which he replied: “I think yes.’’ Emery told a pre-match press conference. “We had a big challenge against West Ham. And the reason is because we spoke about playing under pressure, which we have to do if we are to be competitive, and take this opportunity. It is a big ambition of ours to do that. “After our los...

Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has lamented his sides propensity for turning off during games and their inability to ‘kill’ off opposition teams. Despite dominating most of the games they play   Chelsea   have failed to make the most of their superiority at times, and Sarri has repeatedly complained about his sides mentality over recent months. Part of Chelsea’s problem has undoubtedly been their lack of a clinical striker to put away the chances they create, although that issue will more than likely be negated if the Stamford Bridge club finalise the expected transfer of Gonzalo Higuain from Juventus in the coming days. Sarri has revealed that he is also unhappy with his side for dropping their application levels after going ahead in games. ‘I know very well that we need to improve a lot,’ Sarri told a pre-match press conference. ‘We need to improve from the tactical point of view and mentally. We had problems with reactions to difficulties in the beginnin...

Games between Arsenal and Chelsea are not, perhaps, the first games that come to mind when thinking about feisty London derbies but make no mistake, this fixture has thrown up some amazing results over the years. CHELSEA 2-3 ARSENAL, SEP 1997 This game was bonkers and had pretty much everything that fans of both sides would want in terms of nostalgia. This was the great Chelsea side from the 90’s that had players like Gianluca Vialli, Gianfranco Zola, Ruud Gullit, Frank Leboeuf, and Roberto Di Matteo. Arsenal meanwhile could call upon the likes of Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Tony Adams, Ian Wright, Marc Overmars, Nicolas Anelka and Dennis Bergkamp, to name just a few.

German football journalist Raphael Honigstein has insisted James Rodriguez will see out the remainder of his two-year loan at Bayern Munich, while labelling a recent rumour linking him with a move to Arsenal as a 'crazy story'. The 27-year-old has entered the final six months of a two-year loan deal with the Bavarian club, having joined from parent club Real Madrid in 2017, with the Colombia international scoring 11 goals and providing 16 assists during his time at the Allianz Arena. With the midfielder's future somewhat uncertain, ​Arsenal have been linked with a move for 2014 World Cup Golden Boot winner on loan, although Honigstein is adamant he won't be moving to the Emirates this season. Speaking on The Gooner Talk, as quoted by ​The Express, he said: " I don’t quite know where the story comes from.  James Rodriguez is on a two-year loan at Bayern  at the moment, he’s approaching the last six months of that loan. "Bayern h...

ARSENAL's attempts to offload Mesut Ozil to AC Milan has caused infighting between Ivan Gazidis and club legend Paolo Maldini. Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport understand the Gunners offered the former Germany international to the Serie A club for a move this month. But while sporting strategy and development director Maldini wanted to bring the 30-year-old to the San Siro, chief-executive Gazidis was against the move. The former Italy international felt Milan could benefit from Ozil's "quality and experience", but Gazidis preferred they signed players with resale value. A frank exchange of views is said to have caused friction between the pair and reports suggest it could lead to a "divorce". After 31 years as a player with Milan, during which time he made over 900 appearances and won 26 major honours, Maldini returned to the club in August behind the scenes. As part of a mass restructuring by new owners Elliott Managem...

CHELSEA are to offer boy wonder Callum Hudson-Odoi a new £70,000-a-week deal to keep him away from Bayern Munich's clutches. And it really is all about the game as Blues fans label potential new frontline HHH after Hazard, Hudson-Odoi and Higuain. Keep up to date with all of this and more with the latest Chelsea transfer news and gossip… NO news of Gonzalo Higuain's move to Chelsea likely means he will be unavailable for the trip to Arsenal tomorrow. The Blues had to complete the deal by 12pm today to ensure the Argentine was eligible. But the delay in the move means he will have to wait for his debut – which could now come in the Carabao Cup semi-final against Spurs next Thursday.

Arsenal face Chelsea on Saturday for a huge clash in the race for Champions League qualification.  The positivity of Unai Emery’s new reign has slowly ebbed away as the Gunners form has taken a dip in the last month, with their form line reading two wins, a draw and two losses from their last five Premier League games. Those victories came against relegation fodder, while Arsenal will be hoping not to lose consecutive games against London opposition following their 1-0 loss to West Ham United at the London Stadium. Arsenal lost the first meeting against Chelsea 3-2 at the beginning of the season, but Emery wants more out of this game than just a good performance. “The victory, firstly. Victory first but I think we are doing two different performances, at home and away. We want to find the balance between the two moments,” Emery told his pre-match press conference. “First, we are going to go game-by-game and Saturday we are at home and I ...

EVERYONE INVOLVED AROUND ARSENAL HAVE ONE QUESTION IN THEIR MIND – WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MESUT OZIL? Its has not even been a year since Mesut penned £350,000 contract with Arsenal but is been often left out of matchday squads by Unai Emery. He hasn’t featured for Arsenal since Boxing Day and ‘tactical reason’ has become a go-to cover for Unai, but that is leaving Gooners around the globe well frustrated. Mesut Ozil is the face of Arsenal and leaving him on the line is doing nothing but creating a sense of frustration, which has also led to some rumours linking a move away from Arsenal for the World Cup winner. BBC journalist David Ornstein suggests Emery has spoken to Ozil about a possible departure. They’re not just rumours,” Orstein admitted. “Unai Emery has suggested to Mesut Ozil that it would be best for him to leave the club. And the hierarchy of the club feels that they would like him to move on “I think that’s mainly financially driven for a player earning £3...

With Gonzalo Higuain’s move to Chelsea imminent, there are reports suggesting he could feature against Arsenal,  LIVE on talkSPORT , this Saturday should he sign in time. While Chelsea may have struggled up front this season, there was once a time when this fixture was dominated by one striker, Didier Drogba. The Ivorian was a consistent thorn in the side of the Gunners, as he bullied and dominated their defence to score eight goals in 12 Premier League matches against them. talkSPORT.com takes a trip down memory lane to relive each strike. Chelsea 1-0 Arsenal – August 2005 Despite winning the title in his first season with Chelsea, Drogba initially found life tough at Stamford Bridge. Beginning his second campaign with two goals against Arsenal in the Community Shield, Drogba would open his league account against the same opponents in fortuitous circumstances. A free-kick from Frank Lampard was curled in an his attempts to control the ball, it ricocheted off his kn...

Chelsea will look to tighten their grip on fourth place with a win when they take on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening. Here is the side I think Maurizio Sarri will select for the game: Goalkeeper:  There isn’t much for Sarri to deliberate over in goal as Kepa is certain to keep his place with Willy Caballero once again having to make-do with a place on the bench. Defence:  I don’t think we’ll see any changes in defence either as the Chelsea boss is expected to stick with what’s been his preferred back four for the majority of the season. David Luiz is set to continue alongside Antonio Rudiger in the middle of defence with Andreas Christensen and Gary Cahill battling for a place among the substitutes. Cesar Azpilicueta is expected to once again start ahead of Davide Zappacosta at right-back while Marcos Alonso will continue at left-back with Emerson Palmeiri missing out yet again against Arsenal. Midfield:  Sarri is rep...

Gonzalo Higuain is on the verge of signing on loan for Chelsea until the end of the season from Juventus.  The striker, who is currently on loan at AC Milan, is expected in London on Friday to finalise a deal that will see him join the Blues until the end of the season, according to Italian media outlet  Corriere dello Sport It is thought that the Argentine international will join Chelsea on a short-term loan, with the option of another season. The 31-year-old lost his place in the Juve starting line-up last summer, making way for Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival in Turin. He has since scored eight goals from 22 appearances in all competitions for Milan. Chelsea are hoping Higuain, a World Cup finalist in 2014, will be the cure for their goal-scoring ills of late. The South London outfit have been shut out in three of their last five Premier League games, with Olivier Giroud and Alvaro Morata struggling for form of late. Blues boss Maurizio Sarri ...

So there is obviously no smoke without fire, and the Arsenal manager Unai Emery has confirmed that the Gunners are in talks about Denis Suarez coming to the Emirates, but he obviously refused to tell us the content of these discussions (as if we didn’t know lol!). He said in today’s press conference when asked about any transfer dealings in January: “This transfer window is not easy to take players that can help us with better performances than the players we have now. The club is working and I spoke with Sven, with Raul about different possibilities with players. They are working but it is not easy to take players that can help us with big performances now. “I think it is more one transfer for something special you need that can help us. We are looking, the club is working with the possibility to loan players and if we can take for helping us in a different position on the team, then maybe we can.” So that indicates that he is only expecting one arrival, and then it was no ...

JOE GOMEZ, Lucas Torreira and Hector Bellerin were among the watchers at courtside on Thursday night as the NBA rolled into London. While Per Mertesacker was joined by his former Arsenal team-mates Calum Chambers and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to watch the New York Knicks take on the Washington Wizards at the O2 Arena. Hector Bellerin looked typically fashionable for Washington Wizards encounter with the New York Knicks GETTY - CONTRIBUTOR 18 Arsenal midfielder Lucas Torreira was all smiles for the match-up between the two American teams GETTY - CONTRIBUTOR 18 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is Arsenal's top scorer this term AFP 18 Aubameyang and Bellerin were joined at the 02 Arena by Alexandre Lacazette and Rob Holding