Arsene Wenger believes it is "absolutely natural" for Arsenal to appoint injury victim Per Mertesacker as their captain for the new season. Arsenal have named Per Mertesacker as their new club captain despite the former Germany centre-back being in the midst of a lengthy knee injury lay-off. Mertesacker, who sustained his injury during a pre-season friendly against Lens, takes on the role following Mikel Arteta's departure to take up a coaching role at Manchester City after the end of last season. Manager Arsene Wenger believes his senior core of players are capable of sharing the armband until the 31-year-old makes his return. "Per is a very respected figure in the dressing room, is loved as well and is also a very demanding figure. I think it is … [Read more...]

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has ruled out the possibility of rushing Laurent Koscielny back for Sunday's Premier League opener against Liverpool, leaving him with only a trio of young centre-backs to choose from for the game. Arsenal have lost Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista to injuries in preseason, leading to some speculation that he could be forced to bring Koscielny into the team even though the France defender only returned to training this week after his post-Euro 2016 break. But Wenger said his only options against Liverpool at the Emirates will be 21-year-old Calum Chambers, 20-year-old Rob Holding and 18-year-old Krystian Bielik. "We lost basically three centre-backs because we have Mertesacker, Gabriel and Koscielny, who is not ready, who … [Read more...]

The Premier League title has eluded Arsenal for over a decade and there's hardly non of the EPL-Trophy drought seasons that passed without Arsene Wenger making up excuses for the team's failure to conquer the title. Time was when, we were told that there was inadequate funds to buy players as a result of the Emirates Stadium project. Thankfully, the Stadium was opened in 2006 and our transfer activities is unimpressive hitherto. Since we open the Emirates Stadium, we have seen more notable player's left than were signed. Nasri, Van Persie, Fabregas, Sagna, Clichy, and Henry have all left the club as they thought they could not win the title with Arsenal and rightly, their departures have been justified. Although, we have seen quality players signed for … [Read more...]

Arsenal have been given the news that central defender Gabriel Paulista has been ruled out for up to two months with a sprained ankle. The defender was injured in the final minutes of Arsenal’s pre-season victory over Manchester City on Sunday. Initial reports suggested that the Brazilian could be our for an extended period, but the BBC’s David Ornstein (the oracle) reports that Gabriel will miss between six and eight weeks. David Ornstein ✔ @bbcsport_david Arsenal CB Gabriel out 6/8wks - ankle sprain. Not quite as bad as he 1st feared but #AFC stepping up pursuit of Valencia's Shkodran Mustafi. That leaves Arsenal requiring a centre-back as a matter of urgency. Reports have linked them with both Shkodran Mustafi and Jonny Evans. Arsene … [Read more...]

Arsenal will go into the upcoming season as contenders that have failed to conquer the prestigious Premier League Title for over a decade and any other European Title – however, the quality of players or manager in the ranks of Arsenal has consistently been of notable quality over these EPL drought years. Arsene Wenger anchored his football ideology on a fluid style of play that sees Arsenal play with a midfield pivot that can retain ball possession and offer threats in attack with mesmerizing creativity. Uniquely known as the “Barcelona” of England, Arsenal have retained this philosophy over the years as orchestrated by Arsene Wenger. Accused of being frugal in the transfer market despite a heavy transfer war-chest, Arsene Wenger seems to be in tune with the … [Read more...]

Theo Walcott boosted his confidence by scoring the decisive goal for Arsenal in a 3-2 victory over Manchester City on Sunday in their final preseason warmup ahead of the new season. Walcott made a perfect run into the box to meet Alexis Sanchez's pass and chipped a delicate finish over the onrushing Joe Hart to make it 2-1 in the 73rd minute as the Gunners came from a goal down in the second half. Substitute Chuba Akpom then made sure of the Gunners' fourth straight preseason win in the 85th minute before Kelechi Iheanacho pulled one back for City. Petr Cech still had to preserve the win by diving low to keep out Yaya Toure's shot in the final minutes and Jesus Navas wasted another chance for an equaliser by shooting high. However, it may have been a … [Read more...]

Two goals each for Joel Campbell and Alex Iwobi helped Arsenal to an 8-0 friendly win over Viking on Friday. Seven second-half goals helped Arsenal to an 8-0 thrashing of Viking in Friday's friendly in Norway. Santi Cazorla saw a penalty saved by goalkeeper Iven Austbo after just four minutes, but Arsene Wenger's side responded emphatically to record a third pre-season win in a row. Joel Campbell opened the scoring on 33 minutes, but the Gunners had to wait until five minutes after the break to take control of proceedings, when Cazorla blasted home from distance. Theo Walcott and Campbell both struck from close range before the hour mark before substitute Alex Iwobi got in on the act, burying Cazorla's pass before drilling a low effort in off the post … [Read more...]

Claudio Ranieri has dashed Arsene Wenger’s hopes of luring Riyad Mahrez to Arsenal by insisting that the Leicester City winger will not be sold by the Premier League champions. Mahrez, last season’s PFA Player of the Year, remains a prime target for Arsenal, who failed in an attempt to sign Leicester team-mate Jamie Vardy earlier this summer. Leicester failed to persuade N’Golo Kante to remain at the King Power Stadium following the club’s title triumph, with the France midfielder sealing a move to Chelsea after the Stamford Bridge outfit triggered a release clause in his contract. But with Leicester preparing to meet FA Cup winners Manchester United in the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday, Ranieri insists that he and the club’s Thai owners have … [Read more...]