Chelsea’s attackers have arguably been a little bit underwhelming so far in the Premier League this season. The exception to that is Cole Palmer, who has once again stood out with 14 goals and six assists in the top flight.

He has been well-supported by a few of the Blues’ attackers. Nicolas Jackson has played well, with nine goals and five assists, and Noni Madueke has ten goal involvements, with both players the only other Chelsea attackers to score more than five goals.

However, a couple of players have underperformed, including Joao Felix and Pedro Neto, who have only managed one goal each in the Premier League. Thus, it might not be a surprise that the Blues are targeting a late move for Brighton and Hove Albion striker Evan Ferguson.

Why Chelsea want Ferguson

A report on Friday confirmed that the Blues have joined the race to sign Ferguson before Monday’s deadline. At this stage, it is not clear whether or not they want to do a loan deal or make a permanent move for the Irishman. However, he is valued at £40m by the Seagulls.

It has been a really tough season in 2024/25 for the 20-year-old. He has played 15 times across all competitions but has only found the back of the net once. That strike came at home in a 2-2 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

However, he has shown great promise at first-team level for the South Coast outfit. The striker has scored 17 times and grabbed five assists in 80 games for the club, although has only played 3542 minutes in that time.

So, with that in mind, the Blues would certainly be adding someone who has a natural eye for goal. Although he has struggled this season, it is important to remember Ferguson is just 20 years of age and has years to go in his development as a professional.

It remains to be seen if the Blues will sign Ferguson, but for £40m they could certainly do worse. In fact, one of their current players is worth far more than the striker, who cannot get into the side this season under Enzo Maresca.

The player worth more than Ferguson

The Chelsea star worth more than the Brighton forward is Christopher Nkunku. Things have not really worked out for the French forward at Stamford Bridge since his £52m move from RB Leipzig in 2023.

His record, on the face of things, is not too bad. The former PSG star has played 43 times in that famous Blue shirt, scoring 16 times and registering four assists.

However, seven of those goals have come in the Conference League, including two goals and an assist in the 8-0 win over FC Noah this season.

Nkunku has been disappointing in the Premier League in 2024/25, with five goals and one assist in 30 appearances. With that being said, he is competing against Palmer and Jackson for a spot in the side, which is far from easy given their form.

Nkunku stats by Premier Leaguse season
Stat	2023/24	2024/25	Total
Games	19	11	30
Minutes	419	439	858
Goals	2	3	5
Assists	1	0	1
Stats from Transfermarkt

The Frenchman, once described as “ridiculous” by Statman Dave during his time at Leipzig, was linked with a move back to Germany earlier in the transfer window. He had agreed on personal terms with Bayern Munich, as reported by Florian Plettenberg on the 18th of January.

ESPN reported that the Blues would want at least £50m for Nkunku if he were to leave, and there are certainly positives for his departure. Not only does it work better for him, given he can play regular football elsewhere, but it means Chelsea can also reinvest the money into a deal for Ferguson, which is better suited to their squad.

For all parties, it seems worth Nkunku leaving Stamford Bridge. He is worth £10m more than Brighton’s asking price for the Ireland striker, and that certainly benefits the Blues given they can add a more suitable profile to their squad.

Caicedo 2.0: Chelsea lining up move for 'one of the best PL midfielders'

Chelsea lining up move for a standout Premier League sensation

By
Connor Holden

Jan 31, 2025

A former Tottenham star claims the club's players have disrespected their fans by giving up on their Premier League campaign.

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Former Tottenham star criticises playersClaims they've given up on the Premier LeaguePreviews Europa League chancesFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

William Gallas insists the Spurs squad have been "shocking" in recent weeks and have thrown the towel in on their Premier League season. He believes they only care about their Europa League semi-final against Bodo-Glimt, which begins on Thursday.

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Gallas told Prime Casino: "The Tottenham players, what they are thinking right now? Because now they know they are safe in the Premier League. Their position is what, 16th? It's very crazy. It's shocking. It's very disrespectful to the fans. It’s not good enough. They will stay in the Premier League, that’s what they are thinking right now. They are thinking only about that semi-final they have to play in the Europa League."

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Tottenham have never finished lower than 15th in the Premier League, recording 16 consecutive top-half finishes before this season. With that run almost certain to end, Postecoglou left Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Pedro Porro and Dejan Kulusevski out of his starting XI at Liverpool on Sunday, a game they lost 5-1.

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AFPWHAT NEXT FOR TOTTENHAM?

The Europa League semi-final against Bodo-Glimt is huge for Tottenham's season, though it is widely believed that Ange Postecoglou will leave the club regardless.

They were well ahead of the DLS target when rain forced the players off after 18 overs of the chase

S Sudarshanan30-Nov-2022No result Rain took centre stage again, washing out the final ODI of the series in Christchurch after 18 overs of the New Zealand chase of India’s 219. Thanks to Finn Allen’s 54-ball 57 and Devon Conway’s 38 not out in 51 balls, New Zealand were at 104 for 1, well ahead of the DLS target, when the players were taken off the field at Hagley Oval. But since the 20-over mark had not been reached, the match ended in a no-result, giving New Zealand a 1-0 series win. It was the fourth of six matches in the short white-ball series to not have a result – India had earlier won the three-match T20I series 1-0.Earlier, New Zealand won the toss, fielded first, and their seamers exploited whatever help there was in the surface and the conditions to dismiss India for 219. Adam Milne and Daryl Mitchell picked up three wickets each to peg India back. And if it had not been for Washington Sundar’s first ODI half-century – following Shreyas Iyer’s 49 from No. 3 – India would have struggled to get to 200.Arshdeep Singh, bowling the second over of the chase, bowled a maiden where he troubled Devon Conway by moving the ball both ways. But Allen couldn’t be contained at the other end and, gradually, Conway also got going, even hitting four fours in a Deepak Chahar over. It helped New Zealand race to 59 without loss in ten overs.Washington Sundar played a fighting knock down the order to take India past 200•Getty ImagesUmran Malik’s high pace brought with it quick runs – his first two overs went for 21. Allen feasted on his bowling as he got to a 50-ball half-century, reaching the mark by swatting Washington over long-off. But then Malik had Allen caught in the covers for India’s first, and only, wicket. An over later, the skies opened up.Rain had been forecast for the game, as noted in our preview, and a drizzle delayed the start of the match by ten minutes. After that, Tim Southee and Matt Henry kept openers Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill quiet on the whole. This despite Dhawan frequently making use of his feet to charge down the pitch in a bid to put the quick bowlers off their lengths. His first two boundaries – a four over cover point and a six over long-on – both came after he dashed down the track. But, at the end of ten overs, all he had to show for his adventures was 25 off 36 balls.Gill, who got off the mark after facing 11 dots, struck two fours – a delectable drive through extra cover followed by a front-foot pull through midwicket – before flicking one to forward square-leg to hand Milne his first wicket. Milne, in for Michael Bracewell in the XI, then got Dhawan playing one on via the inside edge following another slink down the wicket. In between, though, he grassed Iyer at deep third.Daryl Mitchell had only one ODI wicket before this game; now he has four•AFP/Getty ImagesIyer and Rishabh Pant steadied the ship for a while without really getting any momentum going. Iyer looked assured, timing his cuts and punches through the off side well while also not shying away from the heaves to the leg side. But Mitchell, who had only one ODI wicket before Wednesday, prised out Pant with a short one before Suryakumar Yadav edged one to slip off Milne for the second time in the series.Iyer, who looked set to score his second half-century of the series, then sliced one only for Devon Conway to take a sharp catch running in from sweeper cover. At 121 for 5, India were in tatters.When Deepak Hooda fell with India on 149, they were in danger of being way short of the 200-run mark. But Washington showed his batting chops for the second time in the series – following his unbeaten 16-ball 37 in the first ODI – and added good runs with the tail before becoming the last man to fall.The total looked well short of par, and New Zealand looked good to hunt it down. However, the rain ensured that we will never know if an unexpected result was in the offing.

With what feels like an almost endless string of bad luck at the moment, it’s easy to forget how far Arsenal have come in the last five years or so.

The North Londoners were languishing down in tenth in the Premier League and looking more likely to fall further down the table than climb it when Mikel Arteta was handed the reins in December 2019.

Yet, despite more than a few setbacks, the Spaniard has transformed the club from a shadow of its former self into genuine title contenders and even led them to the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in over a decade last season.

On top of his tactical and philosophical changes, Arteta has also developed players into superstars, including one whose valuation has exploded under his management.

Arsenal stars developed by Arteta

There are a considerable number of Arsenal players that Arteta has helped develop into fully fledged stars over his tenure, but perhaps one of the most dramatic transformations has been that of Gabriel Magalhaes.

The Brazilian centre-back joined the Gunners from LOSC Lille in the summer of 2020 for a fee of around £23m, and while he was certainly a useful player during his first couple of seasons with the club, there was a somewhat common view among some fans and pundits that he could be a liability at the back.

However, over the last few years, the Sao Paulo-born titan has more than proven that idea incorrect, as, alongside William Saliba, he helped create the best defence in the Premier League last season and is on track to do the same again this year.

Moreover, while his French teammate is the one who tends to win more of the plaudits, this season has seen the former Lille man get his flowers, both for his old-school no-nonsense approach to defending but also his ability in the opposition’s penalty area, as in 34 games this season he’s racked up five goals and one assist.

This rise from a potential problem at the back to one of the first names on the teamsheet has also seen his valuation explode under the manager as, according to Transfermarkt, he’s now worth €75m, which is about £63m, or 173% more than the club paid for him in 2020.

With that said, another star of the first team has seen his valuation soar even higher under Arteta’s management.

Market Movers

The Arsenal star whose valuation has skyrocketed under Arteta

While things might not be going so well at the moment, Arsenal are blessed with a plethora of incredible players who have come on leaps and bounds under the manager, but when it comes to the most essential player in the team, there is only one answer.

Bukayo Saka was handed his first-team debut under Unai Emery in the 18/19 campaign, and while the former manager did hand him more opportunities at the start of the following campaign, it wasn’t until Arteta arrived that the Hale End icon really became a regular in the starting line up.

According to Transfermarkt, the young Englishman was worth just €13m, or £11m, but today, just over five years later, his valuation has soared to an astounding €150m, which is about £125m, or 1036% more than it was when the manager took charge.

That is undoubtedly an enormous sum of money, but based on the 23-year-old’s performance and growth in that time, it’s hard to say it’s unwarranted.

For example, despite still being relatively young, the Gunners’ “legend in the making,” as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, has already made 250 appearances for the first team, in which he’s scored 67 goals and provided 63 assists, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.92 games.

Appearances

250

Starts

221

Minutes

19229′

Goals

67

Assists

63

Goal Involvements per Match

0.52

Minutes per Goal Involvement

147.91′

However, that does not paint the full picture, as for much of his early career, the 43-capped international was played all over the pitch, from full-back to midfield, so when we look at his record at right-wing, he looks even more impressive.

In just 120 appearances off the right, the supremely gifted attacker has scored 43 goals and provided 36 assists, which comes out to a staggering average of a goal involvement every 1.51 games.

Ultimately, Arsenal have come a long way under Arteta, and Saka’s incredible transformation from academy graduate to world-class winger is the perfect encapsulation of the club’s progression.

Arsenal rejected world-class CF for just £7m, now he's worth more than Saka

The incredible star would have been a game-changer for Arsenal.

ByJack Salveson Holmes Feb 13, 2025

Arsenal legend Arsene Wenger believes the Gunners have a "mental" advantage ahead of their crunch Champions League clash at Paris Saint-Germain.

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• Arsenal lose 1-0 at home to PSG
• On brink of Champions League exit
• Wenger says they have "mental" advantage

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• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Arsenal fell to a 1-0 semi-final first-leg defeat to PSG at the Emirates last week but despite the French side having home advantage for the return fixture, former Gunners boss believes the fact that Mikel Arteta's side have to win keeps matters simple. Whereas with PSG, deciding how to approach the game is more of a "mental problem".

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• Getty/GOAL
  

  WHAT WENGER SAID

  He told beIN SPORTS: "What is interesting in the Champions League, when you go away and home, is every time before you start the game in the second leg, you have a mental problem to resolve. The advantage for Arsenal is the mental problem is easy. They have to go and play and win. The mental problem for PSG is: do we play to win this game or do we play to protect our advantage and get them playing on the counter-attack, knowing you have to be very clear in your message to the team? As well, knowing that not everybody in the team will be necessarily aligned with you because if they decide to protect their advantage, it’s a little bit against the DNA of the team. So Luis Enrique has already come out and said they have another game to win and I believe, with the final in mind and you playing at home, it will be very difficult to have a passive attitude.”

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Neither Arsenal nor PSG have ever won the Champions League so this semi-final has an awful lot riding on it. The Gunners won away at defending champions Real Madrid in the last round so they can rise to the big occasion but winning in Paris may be an even tougher challenge.

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• Getty Images
  

  WHAT NEXT?

  Arteta's Arsenal, who lost 2-1 at home to Bournemouth on Saturday, will hope to overturn their first-leg deficit at PSG on Wednesday in the Champions League semi-finals.

Deadline day transfer news keeps filtering out of Tottenham Hotspur, as chairman Daniel Levy attempts last-minute coups for manager Ange Postecoglou.

Tottenham set sights on second defender after Kevin Danso

Spurs recently confirmed the signing of Kevin Danso from RC Lens, who joined on loan with an obligation to buy for around £21 million in the summer, with Postecoglou at long last seeing an outfield player come through the door before tonight’s 11pm cut-off.

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The Austria international is a solid one-on-one defender with great pace, so his addition comes as a welcome one for Postecoglou, who’s seen his defence absolutely battered by injuries over the last few months.

Man United (home)

February 16th

Ipswich Town (home)

February 22nd

Man City (home)

February 26th

Bournemouth (home)

March 9th

Fulham (away)

March 16th

Micky van de Ven has just returned to action, while Cristian Romero is apparently still a bit away from coming back into the fold. Meanwhile, Radu Dragusin could miss the majority of this remaining campaign after suffering a serious knee injury (The Telegraph).

Their need for more defensive options is pretty evident, and Dragusin’s potential long-term absence means they could look to bring in another centre-back after Danso.

Tottenham did have a loan agreement with Chelsea for Axel Disasi. However, that transfer is now unlikely to happen, the Lilywhites ending their interest in the Frenchman as Aston Villa attempt to take advantage by reigniting talks.

Interestingly, according to reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano, Crystal Palace star Marc Guehi was subject to an audacious late swoop from Spurs and Daniel Levy as well.

Tottenham make "late bid" for Marc Guehi as Crystal Palace reply

Guehi had been attracting January interest from Chelsea, who reportedly had a low-ball offer rejected as Palace set a £55 million price tag to sell him (The Sun). As per Romano, Postecoglou’s side haven’t had much luck prising the England international away from Selhurst Park either.

Palace are said to have rejected a “late bid” from Tottenham and Levy for “top target” Guehi, which happened in the last 48 hours, as Spurs frantically pursue another centre-back signing.

The 24-year-old is likely to be a very hot topic again this summer, when Guehi enters the final year of his Palace contract, but it would surely take a seismic offer for Oliver Glasner’s side to sell today.

After an early prediction of higher chances of rain for India vs Pakistan, the forecast on Saturday evening came down to 70%

Sidharth Monga22-Oct-2022

India practised in dry conditions on the eve of their match against Pakistan•Getty Images

It would appear the fickle Melbourne weather doesn’t want to be seen as the spoilsport. The dismal weather outlook has improved a lot on the day before the big match between India and Pakistan on Sunday. On the eve of the match, Pakistan’s training was interrupted by early-morning rain, but India practised in dry conditions in the afternoon. Pakistan later did fielding practice under the lights at night.After an early prediction of 95% chance of rain and about 20mm precipitation on Sunday evening, the Bureau of Meteorology upgraded the forecast on Saturday evening to 70% chance of rain, and only two to five mm of it. The only concern, though, is that any rain on the day is expected in the evening, which is when the match is scheduled.Related

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“I’ve been hearing about Melbourne weather for a while now, and it keeps changing,” Rohit Sharma said in his pre-match press conference. “In the morning when I woke up, a lot of the buildings, when I opened my hotel curtains, were in clouds, and now we certainly see the sunshine.”You don’t really know what is going to happen tomorrow. The things that are in our control, we’ll try and control that, which is we’ll have a good training session today, go back, relax ourselves and get ready for tomorrow. As simple as that. We need to come here thinking that it’s a 40-over game. We will be ready for that.”If the situation demands that it’s a shorter game, we will be ready for that, as well. A lot of the guys have played such kinds of games before, and they know how to manage themselves in a situation like that where you are getting ready for a 40-over game, and then suddenly it’s a 20-over game, or five overs each.”Luckily, we played one game in India against Australia which was an eight-over game. I think in terms of where the guys stand, I don’t think it’s going to make much of a difference, but we just certainly need to come here very well prepared and thinking that it’s going to be a 40-over game.”Pakistan captain Babar Azam also said they are hoping for a full game on Sunday. “Weather is not in our hands,” he said. “As players, we would love to play and play a full game. A lot of people are waiting for this match. We want it to be a 40-over match, but whatever happens we are prepared for it.”India’s training session was attended by hundreds of fans, with Indian and Pakistani supporters indulging in loud banter. It was just a precursor of what to expect on Sunday evening.

MatériaMais Notícias

Neste sábado (25), a Série D teve o início da sua 11ª rodada, das 14 da fase de grupos da competição. O campeonato está afunilando e alguns classificados para a próxima fase vão se desenhando, é o caso do Caxias.

>Aplicativo de resultados do LANCE! está disponível na versão iOS

A equipe gaúcha conseguiu um gol aos 35 minutos do segundo tempo contra o São Luiz, marcado por Diogo Sodré e subiu para a segunda colocação do Grupo H, com 20 pontos. Assim, o time está bem próxima de sua classificação.

A Portuguesa-RJ venceu o Paraná por 1 a 0, atuando em casa, e assumiu a terceira colocação da sua chave e ainda luta por uma classificação. Veja todos os resultados da Série D:

Caxias 2×1 São Luiz
Crato 0x1 Sousa
Portuguesa-RJ 1×0 Paraná
Santo André 1×1 Cianorte
Real Noroeste 2×2 Inter de Limeira
Castanhal 0x0 4 de Julho FC
FC Cascavel 0x1 Aimoré
URT 2×5 Bahia de Feira
Amazonas FC 1×2 Porto Velho
Tocantinópolis 0x1 Juventude Samas
Sergipe 2×1 CSE
Caldense 0x1 Pouso Alegre FC
Grêmio Anápolis 1×2 Costa Rica-MS
Ferroviária 0x0 Nova Venécia
Náutico-RR 4×2 Humaitá
Juazeirense 0x2 Jacuipense

Liam Livingstone will make his England Test debut against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Thursday.Livingstone, 29, will be one of two new faces named by skipper Ben Stokes for the first Test from the team that ended the English summer. Ben Duckett will partner Zak Crawley at the top of the order, replacing Alex Lees who was dropped for this tour, adding to his four Test appearances from 2016-17, against Bangladesh and India. Yorkshire batter Harry Brook keeps his spot at No. 5, having replaced the injured Jonny Bairstow at the Kia Oval in the final match of the South Africa series.Livingstone, picked on this tour for his capabilities as a spinner along with his ball-striking which has made him a go-to signing on the Twenty20 circuit, last played a competitive red-ball match at the end of the 2021 summer for Lancashire. Both of his first-class averages are in the high 30s: 38.36 with the bat and 36.13 with the ball.Related

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His selection in the XI is ultimately for his potential, bombastic upside. As head coach Brendon McCullum put it on Monday: “He bowls offspin, legspin, fields well and smacks the ball out of the park – it’s hard not to get around a player who plays like that.” Ultimately, the call was between him and Surrey’s batting allrounder Will Jacks, who bowls offspin. Livingstone got the nod on account of offering both wrist and finger spin.”The only real discussion we thought was worth having was whether we go with Jacksy or Livi,” Stokes said. “I think given the place where Livi’s going to play and as that third spinner role, it’s quite nice to have someone who turns it both ways. And quite nice the way he applies himself with the bat – very similar to Jacksy, but having that legspin and offspin possibility with Livi was a big plus for us.”Stokes referring to Livingstone as a “third spinner” is down to wanting to utilise Joe Root’s offspin alongside the left-arm orthodox of Jack Leach, who is regarded as the frontline spinner. Livingstone will supplement both.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“With Livi he’s one of those cricketers who can come on from anywhere and take a wicket when the ball’s flowing a bit the opposition’s way. I’ve already spoken to Rooty as well. I’m going to try to use him quite a lot. I think he underuses himself. He’s actually got some very good assets as an offspin bowler. He’s been working very hard on his bowling.”The presentation of a maiden Test cap this week will round off a special month or so for Livingstone, who was part of England’s successful T20 World Cup campaign in Australia. As a verified specialist in the shortest format, notably from an English perspective when he carried the first edition of the Hundred in 2021, it perhaps bodes well that someone like him would relish the chance to play the longest format.Stokes revealed he spoke to Livingstone about the prospect of playing a part in these Test matches a couple of months ago. The response he got back was encouraging. His lack of first-class action has featured less as a worry and more as a punchline over the last fortnight. Stokes joked that Livingstone “will probably try to hit a few over this media centre, no doubt”.”It was a pretty simple conversation I had with him, actually before we went out to Australia for the World Cup. I obviously told him where we stood in terms of him playing some red-ball cricket out in the subcontinent.”With the skill he has with the ball and the way he plays with the bat, [he] is very aligned with how me and Baz want to see the team play. He jumped at the opportunity. I don’t necessarily think that not playing a red-ball game is going to be too much of a thing for him. He’s a very natural cricketer, he’s going to go out there and really express himself. So yeah looking forward to seeing him in the whites. He did say when he got his white pads out of the bag ‘what are these?'”Duckett, while also selected on style of play, has earned a recall on an impressive showing last season with Nottinghamshire. He struck 1012 runs at an average of 72.28, at a rate of 76.09 – that last figure as much a pro for this management group as the three centuries. He underlined his expansive play in the T20 series in Pakistan a few months ago with 233 runs at 46.60 (strike rate 159.58), which gave Stokes in particular a nudge he was the man for the job ahead of the other opener in the squad, Keaton Jennings.Liam Livingstone has been picked in England’s Test XI for Rawalpindi•Getty Images

“Ducky showed out here in the T20s just how good he is against spin bowling,” Stokes said. “To have someone at the top like him who can mess around with the fields and make it a captain’s nightmare because he sweeps both ways, and we know how much of a part spin plays out in this area. Excited to have him at the top.”Brook’s selection, meanwhile, is a continuation from the summer in which he carried drinks before making his bow in the format in the final South Africa Test. He scored 12 in his only innings of that match but comes off the back of a stellar season with Yorkshire: a monster average of 107.44, with three hundreds – including a career best 194 against Kent – and a final tally of 967 from just eight matches.”The way in which Harry’s gone about his first-class cricket over the last year, we won’t see much difference out here in the subcontinent,” Stokes said. “Another one who’s a perfect like for like in the way they play for Jonny. He [Bairstow] is a big miss in this Test team out here, but very blessed to have someone like Brooky to replace him.”Stokes also discussed the importance of approaching this tour of Pakistan with an understanding life is more important than cricket. On Monday, the England captained revealed he would be dominating his match fees, understood to be approximately £50,000 (US$60,000) for this tour to the Pakistan flood appeal.”Coming here is a monumental time for English cricket and for Pakistan as a nation. There are bigger things to life than cricket. The floods were devastating to the country, and me coming out here and representing my country, bringing the sport back to the nation. There are things that go on in life that are bigger than sport and I felt compelled just to give something that is bigger than cricket.”Donations to the appeal can be made via the Disasters Emergency Committee.

Arsenal are now eyeing a move for a “ridiculous” Premier League player, who has a £55m release clause which will become active in the summer, according to a report.

Arteta keen to strengthen spine of his team

During the January transfer window, there was plenty of discussion about whether the Gunners need to bring in a striker if they are to make a real push for the Premier League title.

Everton’s dramatic late equaliser against Liverpool last night will certainly give the north Londoners renewed hope about winning the league, but there will still be concerns that the lack of a top striker could cost them.

As such, it seems likely Mikel Arteta will revisit a move for a forward at the end of the season, with the likes of Benjamin Sesko and Alexander Isak among the main players linked with moves to the Emirates Stadium.

However, it is not the only area in which Arteta is looking to strengthen, with Martin Zubimendi in line to be brought in to bolster the manager’s midfield options, and there are now reports he could also be keen on bringing in a new centre-back.

Related £50m forward seriously considering exit after Arsenal express real interest

He’s highly versatile.

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Gabriel and William Saliba have formed a formidable partnership over the past few seasons, but Arsenal are now eyeing a move for a younger option, with AFC Bournemouth’s Dean Huijsen said to be of interest.

That is according to a report from The Boot Room, which states Huijsen has a £55m release clause, which is set to become active at the end of the season. News of the clause’s existence has attracted the attention of a number of top Premier League clubs, with Liverpool and Chelsea also being named as potential suitors.

Bournemouth remain confident the 19-year-old will remain at the Vitality Stadium, but it remains to be seen whether his head is turned amid the widespread interest.

Arsenal’s upcoming Premier League fixtures

Date

Leicester City (a)

February 15th

West Ham United (h)

February 22nd

Nottingham Forest (a)

February 26th

Manchester United (a)

March 9th

Chelsea (h)

March 16th

"Ridiculous" Huijsen has made great start to life in England

The teenager could hardly have asked for a better debut season, having established himself as a key player for a Bournemouth side who are making an unexpected push for Europe.

Freelance scout Ben Mattinson has lauded the former Roma man for his “ridiculous” technical quality going forward in the past, and he has also proven himself to be astute defensively.

The Amsterdam-born defender ranks in the 96th percentile for interceptions per 90, and the 89th percentile for blocks and clearances, when compared to his positional peers over the past year.

However, given that Arteta has Saliba and Gabriel at his disposal, there is no pressing need to bring in a new centre-back, and Huijsen would be unlikely to settle for a bit-part role, given that he is receiving regular game time for Bournemouth.

As such, bringing in a new central midfielder and striker should remain Arsenal’s priority for the summer transfer window.