ARSENAL are reportedly eyeing a mega-money move for AC Milan star Rafael Leao in the summer.
Leao, 23, is yet to sign a new contract with the Italian giants and the forward has previously revealed that he 'loves' to watch Arsenal.
Meanwhile, the Gunners and Manchester City have been hit with fines after their heated Premier League encounter – but the Gunners have come off worse.
Bukayo Saka has agreed to stay at boyhood club Arsenal, according to reports.
The Gunners star man is now closing in on a bumper new contract worth £200,000-a-week.
Elsewhere, Arsenal are back in action TODAY with a tough away trip to Leicester in the Premier League.
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- Henry Tomlinson
Arteta warning to Saka
Bukayo Saka has been warned not to let himself get distracted by the Premier League’s hatchet men.
Arsenal’s marathon man has currently played more consecutive Premier League matches than any other top flight player.
And the exciting young winger has had to endure plenty of kicks along the way from rival defenders struggling to cope with his pace and trickery.
But Gunners boss Mikel Arteta was not thrilled to see Saka, 21, reacting angrily to a foul by Philippe Coutinho by shoving his rival in the chest and receiving a yellow card during last week’s 4-2 win at Aston Villa.
He said: "Bukayo needs to learn and improve how he protects himself on the pitch within the rules.
"There was a very thin line with the way he reacted last week and he cannot allow that to take him out of the game and lose his focus."
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Credit: PA - Henry Tomlinson
Morning Arsenal fans
Thomas Partey aims to be fit as the table-topping Gunners visit Leicester this afternoon.
But Jorginho remains a strong tip to again stand-in for the Ghanaian midfielder after impressing following his deadline switch from Chelsea.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has already insisted Bukayo Saka is over his knock in last weekend's 4-2 comeback win at Aston Villa.
So the main selection issue could be whether Gabriel Martinelli regains his left-wing spot from Leandro Trossard.
Meanwhile, being drawn against Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League last-16 reminded the Gunners just how dramatic their progress under Arteta has been.
Only two squad memes remain from the last time Arsenal faced the Portuguese giants in 2018 – fringe men Rob Holding and Emile Smith Rowe.
The latter, though, is pressing for a start after shaking off injuries.
Arteta still expects Saka and William Saiba to follow Martinelli in signing a new long deal.
And French centre-back Saliba told the club's media team: “You can see that he trusts me."
He added:”I want to win everything possible here, and to put the club back on the very top.
“We all want to win the Premier League, and I’ve never won a trophy so that’s why I work every day, but we have 15 games left and it’s not going to be easy."
- Ian Tuckey
'I want to win everything at Arsenal'
William Saliba dreams of helping Arsenal becoming England's most successful side again.
And the defender suggested a new contract is shortly on the cards as he said of boss Mikel Arteta: “You can see that he trusts me.”
Saliba told Arsenal's media team: “I have to keep going and training hard because we are all good – even the players who don’t start.
"We are all at the same level so that’s good competition.
“I want to win everything possible here, and to put the club back on the very top. I want to win every title.
“We all want to win the Premier League, and I’ve never won a trophy so that’s why I work every day, but we know we have 15 games left and it’s not going to be easy."
- Ian Tuckey
Gunners look to build on Villa comeback
Arsenal continue their journey to potential Premier League success with a trip to the King Power where Leicester awaits.
The Gunners looked destined to drop more points against Aston Villa last weekend having trailed for large periods of the match.
But up stepped January signing Jorginho whose spectacular effort rebounded off Emi Martinez to give Arsenal the lead, before Martinelli sealed the deal late on.
And the Gunners’ Saturday got even better when Nottingham Forest held Manchester City to a draw courtesy of a late Chris Wood strike.
Now in the ascendancy, Mikel Arteta will be hoping his men can build on their momentum against a Leicester side who was recently humiliated by Manchester United.
However, the Foxes put four past Champions League chasing Tottenham the last time they played in front of their home crowd – and that was after going behind.
- Ian Tuckey
Osimhen tipped for Golden Boot
Arsenal and Manchester United 'target' Victor Osimhen has been tipped for the Golden Boot by Gunners' legend Olivier Giroud.
A string of European giants are tipped to come in big for Napoli's Nigeria striker Osimhen in the summer.
And AC Milan frontman Giroud, 36, believes his 24-year-old Serie A rival has NO weaknesses.
Asked by DAZN to predict Europe's leading top-flight scorer, the Frenchman replied: “Osimhen. He does everything well. He has very high confidence.”
The 24-year-old has netted 18 times in as many games for Napoli, who lead Serie A by 15 points from Inter Milan.
That's five clear of Inter’s Lautaro Martinez and six ahead of Atalanta ace Ademola Lookman, formerly of Everton, Leicester and Fulham.
- Ian Tuckey
'Boehly eyes Wenger's old club'
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly is reportedly already looking into buying another football club.
And it could be legendary ex-Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger's old team Strasbourg.
The American businessman, 49, purchased the Blues from Roman Abramovich last summer in a £4.25billion deal.
And he has made quite the splash in the Premier League, spending more than £600million on players in less than 12 months.
But he is yet to see any form of improvement on the pitch as Chelsea manager Graham Potter struggles down in 10th place.
Now Boehly is said to be considering the purchase of Ligue 1 side Strasbourg.
According to L'Equipe, Boehly and partners are "interested in acquiring a 100 per cent stake".
- Ian Tuckey
Fola my leader
Technical coach Saul Isaksson-Hurst is the man in-form Arsenal loanee striker Folarin Balogun turns to for advice on his finishing.
The 21-year-old has become one of Europe’s most feared strikers – outscoring Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi in France’s Ligue 1, where he is starring for Reims.
And Isaksson-Hurst said he is not surprised by Balogun’s rise.
He exclusively told SunSport: “I think he always had it in – if you look at his goalscoring record in the academy and with England’s youth teams.
“Many players do that, but fail to make the transition into first team football that quickly.
“Flo has an amazing mentality, he’s a real young gentleman, polite, very little ego and wants to play at the highest level. He wants to be one of the best strikers in the world.”
- Ian Tuckey
Gunners and City fined for flare-up
Arsenal and Manchester City have been hit with fines after their heated Premier League encounter – but the Gunners have come off worse.
Both sides were charged by the FA after the match earlier this month for failing to control their players.
Man City won 3-1 and went top after the match but the 90 minutes saw several flashpoints as the Prem's top two battled for supremacy at the Emirates.
The FA's charge came after both sets of players surrounded the referee at multiple times during the game.
And the Independent Regulatory Commission have today fined the clubs with Arsenal having to take a bigger punishment due to previous incidents.
Man City have been fined £75,000 after admitting the players did not behave in an orderly fashion in the 42nd and 64th minutes of the game. Arsenal were fined £65,000 after admitting they failed to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion in the 56th minute.
An independent appeal board has added an additional £20,000 fine for a suspended charge after the club also drew the FA's ire for their behaviour during an FA Cup game at Oxford.
It's been a repeated issue for Arsenal with the players' behaviour against Newcastle in January also seeing the club charged.
- Ian Tuckey
No hope without Pope
Arsenal legend Paul Merson has revealed who he thinks will win the Carabao Cup, with a "shock" reason behind his claim.
Newcastle take on Manchester United in Sunday's final, with both clubs looking to end trophy droughts and kickstart a new era of success.
Erik ten Hag's Utd have won seven of their last nine games, including a 2-1 comeback victory against Barcelona. Meanwhile, Eddie Howe's outfit have failed to win in any of their last three games. However, form is not the key factor for Merson, rather player availability is.
Speaking to Sportskeeda, he explained: "If there was one player Eddie Howe couldn’t afford to miss in this final, it would be Nick Pope. He has won them so many points this season.
"I’d be shocked if Newcastle won this one without Pope in goal. He is that big for Newcastle United. Unfortunately, he is suspended and that’s going to cost Newcastle dearly.
"When they’re keeping clean sheets, Pope is making big saves. Off the top of my head, in the draw against Arsenal, he made a world-class save to deny Eddie Nketiah."
Merson added: "Manchester United are going to create chances and they are going to score goals. Put [Marcus] Rashford down for one goal already. He is playing so well that you’ll be shocked if he doesn’t score in this game.
"United are the team to beat in the final. Newcastle United are not a free-scoring side. They don’t blow teams away.
"If they don’t score two or three goals, they are not winning this one. I just don’t see them doing that against United on Sunday… I’m going 2-1 to Man United."
- Ian Tuckey
Mikel 'similar to Sarri'
Arsenal midfielder Jorginho has likened boss Mikel Arteta's management style to one of his former Chelsea managers.
The Italian, 31, made the switch from the Blues to the Gunners in the January transfer window in a £12million deal.
And he has been thrown straight into Arsenal's starting line-up following an injury to Thomas Partey.
Jorginho is a seasoned operator having played for Napoli for five seasons before his four-and-a-half-year stint with Chelsea.
He was brought to Stamford Bridge by Maurizio Sarri – who he worked under in Italy.
And the midfielder told beIN Sports, he said: "He [Arteta] reminds me a little bit of Sarri.
"I am used to working with a manager that looks into the details. For me, details make the difference in the end between a good team and a winning team.
"I am sure, 100%, that he worships [the details] so much.
"I’ve only been here a short time but I’m sure every day there is going to be something new and that’s why I’m so excited as well because I can see that I have so much to learn here."
- Ian Tuckey
How the Gunners have changed
Arsenal have learned that Sporting Lisbon will be their opponent in the next round of the Europa League, writes TONY ROBERTSON.
The Gunners topped their group so did not need to follow Manchester United into a play-off, instead getting a pass straight into the Last 16.
And following the draw, Arsenal will be up against Sporting Lisbon, who were knocked down from Tottenham's group in the Champions League.
Arsenal's last game against the Portuguese giants came as recently as 2018, ending in a 0-0 draw, but they have undergone a major makeover since then.
In fact, only Emile smith Rowe and Rob Holdinghave survived since Mikel Arteta began his rebuild at the Emirates.
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GUNNERS' XI TO FACE SPORTING - Ian Tuckey
The Art of passion
Ally McCoist has defended Mikel Arteta’s troublesome touchline antics.
The Arsenal manager is in hot water with his behaviour from the sidelines, with pundits Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton criticising him.
However, Arteta has been defended by McCoist, who believes that his actions will help the fans and players.
The ex-Rangers striker even suggested that the manager gets into trouble “deliberately”.
He told talkSPORT: “I don’t have a problem with it.
“A lot of people have a problem with it, I don’t at all. I think he probably does it deliberately.
“He gets into a little bit of trouble, to show the supporters [his desire to win].
“That is a completely different stadium nowadays. Totally different.
“If you’re on that pitch [as a player] and you look across and see that [it will help].”
- Joshua Mbu
Gunners look to build on Villa comeback
Arsenal continue their journey to potential Premier League success with a trip to the King Power where Leicester awaits.
The Gunners looked destined to drop more points against Aston Villa last weekend having trailed for large periods of the match.
But up stepped January signing Jorginho whose spectacular effort rebounded off Emi Martinez to give Arsenal the lead, before Martinelli sealed the deal late on.
And the Gunners’ Saturday got even better when Nottingham Forest held Manchester City to a draw courtesy of a late Chris Wood strike.
Now in the ascendancy, Mikel Arteta will be hoping his men can build on their momentum against a Leicester side who was recently humiliated by Manchester United.
However, the Foxes put four past Champions League chasing Tottenham the last time they played in front of their home crowd – and that was after going behind.
- Joshua Mbu
Arteta's 'love' for Bellerin
Mikel Arteta will reunite with former Arsenal player Hector Bellerin in the Europa League when the Gunners play Sporting Lisbon.
Speaking about the defender after his move to Barcelona, former Gunners midfielder Arteta said: "He called me really late last night and it was more of a conversation that we used to have when we were teammates and really good friends.
"If you take away the coaching and player situation a little bit, I get back into that relationship as well.
"I love the kid, I love what he's done for the club. He's someone that I have really strong feelings about and I wish him all the best because I know that it's one of his dreams to play there [Barca].
"Hopefully he can fulfil his dream and get his career back to where he can because he's still very young and has a lot he can do."
- Joshua Mbu
Saka would make Invincibles team, says Keown
Arsenal Invincible, Martin Keown, believes current star Bukayo Saka would make the iconic team.
Keown told talkSPORT: “They wouldn’t want to lose him, he’s a massive talent. The goals he scores, the assists, and also his mentality.
“I talked about The Invincibles and I said on the record he’s the one player, and there might be a few more to follow, that would be in that team.
“There would certainly be one or two there thinking, ‘Hold on, this kid’s going to have to play, I’m going to have to step aside’ – he’s that good.”
- Joshua Mbu
Wilshere hails Arsenal U18s
Jack Wilshere praised his side’s special team spirit after they beat Cambridge 3-2 to clinch an FA Youth Cup semi-final spot.
He said: "This is a special group of boys.
"We showed that spirit that I keep talking about, a fire that wins you games and we’ve seen that against Newcastle, Watford, and now tonight.
"We need to be better if we want to win the cup, but keep that fire and we will have a great chance.
“There’s a massive team spirit and unity to the group. It gets us through the tough moments.”
- Joshua Mbu
Taking the Myk
Mykhailo Mudryk has been backed to be one of the best players in the Premier League despite his slow start at Chelsea.
The Blues forked out a staggering £88million to land the winger, 22, from Shakhtar Donetsk ahead of London rivals Arsenal during the January window.
Speaking to the Football Ramble, Shakhtar sporting director Darijo Srna said: “Don’t worry about Mykhailo Mudryk, you will enjoy watching him. His first game against Liverpool, this is 35 per cent of Mudryk, believe me.
“Chelsea is not in a good mood, they are not playing amazing football and don’t have good results but they have a lot of players and need time.”
- Joshua Mbu
Bellerin reunion
Arsenal will reunite with Hector Bellerin when they play Sporting Lisbon.
Bellerin spent a decade in North London before leaving for free to join Barcelona in 2022, after a successful loan spell at boyhood club Real Betis.
However, his return to Barca, where he spent time in the academy from 2003-2011, didn’t go to plan.
Bellerin joined Sporting in January this year.
Credit: Getty - Joshua Mbu
When will the round of 16 games take place?
First leg: March 9
Second leg: March 16
- Joshua Mbu
Draw recap
Here’s how the round of 16 looks:
- Union Berlin vs Union Saint-Gilloise
- Sevilla vs Fenerbahce
- Juventus vs Freiburg
- Bayer Leverkusen vs Ferencvaros
- Sporting Lisbon vs ARSENAL
- MANCHESTER UNITED vs Real Betis
- AS Roma vs Real Sociedad
- Shakhtar Donetsk vs Feyenoord
Sporting Lisbon vs ARSENAL
2005 finalists Sporting Lisbon will play ARSENAL!
- Joshua Mbu
Arteta gets into trouble with referees on PURPOSE
Ally McCoist has defended Mikel Arteta's troublesome touchline antics.
The Arsenal manager is in hot water with his behaviour from the sidelines, with pundits Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton criticising him.
However, Arteta has been defended by McCoist, who believes that his actions will help the fans and players.
The ex-Rangers striker even suggested that the manager gets into trouble "deliberately".
He told talkSPORT: "I don’t have a problem with it.
"A lot of people have a problem with it, I don’t at all. I think he probably does it deliberately.
"He gets into a little bit of trouble, to show the supporters [his desire to win].
"That is a completely different stadium nowadays. Totally different.
"If you’re on that pitch [as a player] and you look across and see that [it will help]."
Mikel Arteta has been getting into trouble for his touchline behaviour - Joshua Mbu
Europa League draw LIVE
SunSport has you covered for the LIVE Europa League draw.
Our coverage is already underway but the draw isn’t scheduled to start until 11am.
Click HERE to follow along
- Joshua Mbu
Europa League final venue
This year’s Europa League final will be held in Hungary.
The Puskas Arena will play host on May 31.
- Joshua Mbu
Gunners want Shakhtar
Arsenal fans want to face unseeded team Shakhtar Donetsk in the round of 16.
The Gunners were chasing Mykhailo Mudryk in January but wouldn’t match the Ukrainian club’s asking price.
Mudryk himself looked incredibly keen to join the North London club.
That was until rivals Chelsea hijacked the deal.
The Blues signed the 22-year-old for a fee north of £80million.
An Arsenal fan said: “Shakhtar please – so we can punish them for Mudryk.”
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