ARSENAL are set to face competition from Newcastle for the signing of Youri Tielemans according to reports.
The Belgian was heavily linked with a move to the Emirates all summer.
But Magpies boss Eddie Howe is reportedly plotting a £17million deal to swipe Tielemans from Leicester.
Meanwhile, the Gunners are pushing hard to tie Saka down to a new contract and there's growing confidence that terms will be signed off before the new year.
And, Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Arsenal 'have a chance' to sign Ukrainian star Mykhaylo Mudryk in the future.
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Stay up to date with all the latest from the Emirates Stadium…
- Anthony Chapman
Wenger tips Arsenal for title
Arsenal have been backed as title challengers… by former boss Arsene Wenger.
He said: “I would say they are moving in the right direction. I honestly think there is no weak position in the team… they are young, promising players and they have bought well this year.
“There is no completely dominating team this season and Arsenal has a chance with the potential that is there. We used to be in the top four and why not again?
"You cannot even rule out the fact that they can fight for the title and hopefully they can do it.”
- Anthony Chapman
Arsenal face Newcastle Tielemans battle
Arsenal have reportedly been joined by Newcastle in the race for Youri Tielemans.
The Gunners remain keen on the midfielder despite refusing to meet Leicester’s £25million price-tag this summer.
But Jeunes Footeux claims Newcastle are now preparing to swoop for Tielemans in January.
The Belgian is out of contract next year and Toon are hopeful a £17m winter offer can see them beat Arsenal to his signature.
- Anthony Chapman
Gunners prepare three new deals
Arsenal are reportedly in contract talks with three of their top young stars.
Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and William Saliba’s deals all expire in 2024.
Arsenal chief Edu is now in deep talks with all three players, says 90min.
And he hopes to have nailed down the futures of the trio before January.
- Etienne Fermie
Morning Arsenal fans
Arsenal’s clash with Manchester City scheduled for October 19 has been postponed to create a date for the Gunners to play their Europa League tie against PSV Eindhoven.
The match was initially scheduled for Thursday night but was postponed due to a lack of police resources ahead of the Queen’s state funeral next Monday.
Uefa rules dictated that Mikel Arteta's side had to find a new date to fulfil the fixture before the World Cup or forfeit the game.
Arsenal chiefs remained confident that it would not come to that, and have managed to squeeze the match in on October 20 by having their previously scheduled fixture against City called off.
In other news, former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believed the Gunners CAN challenge for the Premier League title this seaosn.
He said: “This season, from the start, there is no completely dominating team.
“And Arsenal has a chance because the potential is there – hopefully they can do it, at least top four.
“You cannot even rule out the fact they can fight for the title.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal have released their 25-man Premier League squad and it’s not short of surprises.
Manager Mikel Arteta didn’t make any shock omissions but there are some surprise picks involved.
One of them is 22-year-old George Lewis, who has been added to the main list even though he has yet to make a senior appearance.
And finally, Arsenal have been given a huge boost ahead of Sunday’s clash at Brentford.
That’s because Thomas Partey has returned to full training following a thigh injury.
- Jake Lambourne
Campbell urges Vieira to toughen up
Ex-Arsenal star Kevin Campbell has urged Arsenal new boy Fabio Vieira to bulk up because he will be targeted by the opposition hatchet men.
He told The Highbury Squad: “At the end of the day, he has to get used to the physicality. People know he can play.
“People know, that if you give him space and time, then he’s a good player and he will hurt you.
"What’s the first thing they are going to do? Stop him playing. Get into him and make sure he can’t get his head up.
“He has a lot to learn. He has to build his body up, that’s for sure. I thought it was an okay start considering it was his first start.”
- Jake Lambourne
Premier League managers' salary revealed
Mikel Arteta is understood to pocketing around £8.3million-a-year at the Emirates.
That puts the Arsenal boss in seventh spot in the Premier League managers' salary table.
Take a look below at what the other top-flight gaffers earn.
- Jake Lambourne
Arsenal are genuine Prem contenders, says Petit
Ex-Arsenal star Emmanuel Petit has stated that Mikel Arteta's men CAN win the Premier League title.
Petit told Lord Ping: “Right now, Arsenal are first in the league so I would say they are genuine title contenders.
“They have improved over the last few seasons, but they still need to improve against the top teams. They need to learn to convincingly beat top teams.
“We’re seeing things in this Arsenal squad that we haven’t seen before.
"Maturity, character and personality and so for them to be able to beat the best teams in the division is the last stop for Arsenal.”
- Jake Lambourne
Mudryk dreams of Arsenal switch
Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhaylo Mudryk has name-checked Arsenal as a club who he would not be able to reject if they came calling.
He told CBS Sports: "Arsenal is a very good team with very good coach and I like the way they play.
"From my side, I can't say no [to Arsenal] but the transfer is not only my decision. It's a lot of people, like the president of Shakhtar and the club.
"Every guy dreams about the Premier League. It's a top league and everyone wants to play in it. But the speculation has passed and I must move forward and focus on Shakhtar and in winter we will see what will happen.
"There was a lot of discussions about a transfer and clubs who want me, but it's normal. Now I am at Shakhtar and I want to play in this team. I love this team. I love every guy in this team.
"Shakhtar for me is home, but I want to always improve myself and achieve new goals. Now, all my thoughts are only about Shakhtar but in the winter we will see."
- Jake Lambourne
Ian Wright in Iwobi praise
Arsenal legend Ian Wright has hailed Alex Iwobi's form for Everton while also praising his manager Frank Lampard.
Iwobi was eventually sold by Arsenal for around £35million to the Toffees in 2019 with fans happy with the figure they got for him.
Wright said on his podcast: "I'm so pleased with the way it's going for him [Iwobi].
"I remember Arsenal fans, it's the same thing they did with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, they ridiculed him."
He continued: "His ball progression and work rate, Frank has now recognised him and put him there, listen to the Everton fans when he's doing his work, they are adoring him now.
"I'm loving the way it's working out for Iwobi. Everton fans are now starting to realise that if they get the right players in and around him, he's going to be a force for them.
"You look at his work rate, it's unbelievable. It's the kind of intensity that Mikel [Arteta] wants now and needs now, we need that, we need somebody who can press like that."
- Jake Lambourne
Mudryk on target against Celtic
Arsenal target Mykhaylo Mudryk has scored for Shakhtar Donestk in their Champions League clash against Celtic.
The Ukrainian winger has shown why the Gunners were so keen to sign him in the summer, and why they remain interested in bringing him to the Emirates in January.
Mudryk equalised for Shakhtar in the 29th minute after they fell behind to an own goal.
He was released down the left flank where he showcased his blistering pace.
Picking up the ball just inside the box, he took one touch before rifling a left-footed attempt into the roof of the net.
- Jake Lambourne
Arsenal reveal Premier League squad
Arsenal have released their 25-man Premier League squad and it's not short of surprises.
Manager Mikel Arteta didn't make any shock omissions but there are some surprise picks involved.
One of them is 22-year-old George Lewis, who has been added to the main list even though he has yet to make a senior appearance.
Lewis joined the Gunners in 2020 from Norwegian outfit Fram Larvik and has since been playing for the Under-21s.
Other key players, such as Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli are on the Under-21 list.
Here is who Arteta named for his Premier League squad this season:
Cedric Soares, Gabriel Magalhaes, Mohamed Elneny, Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira, Rob Holding, George Lewis, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey, Aaron Ramsdale, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Matt Smith, Emile Smith Rowe, Kieran Tierney, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Matt Turner, Ben White, Granit Xhaka, Oleksandr Zinchenko
- Jake Lambourne
Henry revels in Spurs woe
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has hilariously commentated on Sporting Lisbon's second goal versus Tottenham.
The Portuguese side beat Spurs in the Champions League 2-0 last night.
Henry was doing punditry for CBS Sports when he made the remarks while watching a replay of Arthur Gomes' excellent solo goal deep into stoppage time.
The Brazilian cut inside and knocked the ball through the legs of defender Emerson Royal before finishing past Hugo Lloris.
Pundit Jamie Carragher set Henry up saying "the joy of Thierry Henry" as he made celebratory noises as he saw the strike again.
Henry then said: "That goal… I don't care if it was against Spurs but look at what he does.
"Stepover, meg – see you later. Hugo, meg – see you later. Two-nil – bye."
- Jake Lambourne
Wenger predicts Arsenal title charge
Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believed the Gunners CAN challenge for the Premier League title this seaosn.
Mikel Arteta's men currently sit top of the table having won five out of their opening six matches.
Commenting on the North London giants, Wenger said: "This season, from the start, there is no completely dominating team.
"And Arsenal has a chance because the potential is there – hopefully they can do it, at least top four.
"You cannot even rule out the fact they can fight for the title."
- Jake Lambourne
Arsenal rejected Erling Haaland
Arsenal and Liverpool turned Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland down when he started out at Molde because they thought he was a "target man".
Haaland has been on fire at City ever since his £51million move from Borussia Dortmund as he has already registered a staggering 12 goals and one assist in eight matches across all competitions.
But things could have turned out differently as the Reds and the Gunners were offered the star striker when he was 17 years old and starting out in Norway.
That is according to Molde's former chief scout John Vik, who claims English clubs, such as Liverpool and Arsenal, were strongly advised to snatch the Norway international before it was too late.
But none of them listened to Vik, who worked under former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the time, because they thought he was too big for a centre-forward
Now, the former scout insists they must all be "kicking themselves" amid the Norwegian's ongoing success.
Read more HERE.
- Jake Lambourne
PL chiefs plan for EFL
Premier League club chiefs hope to thrash out a new cash distribution model sending more money to the EFL before next week, writes Martin Lipton.
While club bosses agreed the principles of the proposed "New Deal for Football" in July, the details remain under debate.
The new financial model is the most pressing decision facing the 20 clubs ahead of their first “shareholders” meeting this season.
A phased reduction of parachute payments appears likely, with Prem clubs under pressure to increase the planned £1.6bn in “solidarity” payments over the next three seasons to £2bn-plus.
EFL bosses, though, will be expected to agree to “merit payments” from the expanded pot, with positions in the final tables determining the shares of the windfall rather than a flat fee.
More critically the EFL and Championship clubs will have to agree to stringent cost controls to prevent them spending money they do not have and coming back with demands for more cash in a year or so.
- Alex Cole
Thierry pays tribute to Her Majesty
Henry, 45, also paid tribute to Her Majesty, who passed away last week aged 96.
He added: “It is very difficult to talk about her in the past tense. I am French, I am proud to be French… but I am a Londoner.
“I tend to understand what the royal family was, what she did represent and I have only respect for her.
“It was a great moment, I was nervous as you saw.
“Everyone is still mourning, it is fresh in everybody’s mind and I think it will be for a long time.”
- Alex Cole
Henry tells royal tale
Thierry Henry was so nervous meeting Queen Elizabeth II that he forgot team-mate Julio Baptista’s name.
The Arsenal legend met Her Majesty alongside his Gunners team-mates back in 2007.
Stars of the North London side were invited to Buckingham Palace for afternoon tea after the Queen was unable to be present at the opening of Emirates Stadium the year prior.
Recounting the experience, Henry said on CBS Sports: “I had the opportunity to meet the Queen and I was nervous, as hell.
“I remember thinking ‘I am about to play a game or something’.
“When you are at Buckingham Palace and you are meeting the Queen – I looked at Julio Baptista and forgot his name! I was like ‘who is that?’
“It was my duty to introduce everybody.
“When you are nervous you want to go back into your own language? I don’t think that if I had spoken French it would have worked.”
- Alex Cole
Northern Delights
With the very top talent not as well spread as in the NBA or MLB – our Northern team is dominated by Manchester City and Liverpool players.
Stars such as Ruben Neves, Bruno Guimaraes, James Maddison and Anthony Gordon among others can count themselves unlucky – but there's just such little space among the two sides that have dominated the league for the last five years.
Alisson is our selection in goal, with his team-mate Andrew Robertson at left-back and City star Joao Cancelo at right-back.
Ruben Dias partners Manchester United star Raphael Varane in the middle – the Frenchman one of only two non-City or Liverpool picks.
Thiago and Rodri would make for a fearsome proposition in midfield – while No10 Kevin De Bruyne is one of the best players the league has ever seen.
Sadio Mane would have been a lock on the left flank, but following his departure to Bayern Munich, a spot is left up for grabs.
Luis Diaz probably deserves it on merit, but to put the "star" in All-Star – Cristiano Ronaldo would surely be voted in – despite being scoreless in seven outings this term.
Mo Salah is an easy pick on the right flank, while City's new No9 Erling Haaland is a genuine contender to outscore the south's Harry Kane up front.
- Alex Cole
Southern Sensations
Starting with the southern team, it's hard to look too far beyond players from Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal.
Despite his gaffe at Leeds earlier this season, Edouard Mendy just about pips Hugo Lloris to selection in goal.
Reece James is an easy pick at right-back, and he is joined in the back four by Chelsea team-mate Thiago Silva.
Oleksandr Zinchenko has had a good start at Arsenal and currently holds the shirt over Scotland star Kieran Tierney – with Ben Chilwell having missed much of the last year through injury and Marc Cucurella still finding his feet at Stamford Bridge.
Tottenham's Cristian Romero partners Silva at centre-back in our team – with the combative Argentine an instrumental part of Antonio Conte's miserly defence.
N'Golo Kante, who wants a new four year deal at Chelsea, remains among the best midfielders in the business when fit, and slots into midfield alongside West Ham's Declan Rice.
Dejan Kulusevski has taken to the Premier League like a duck to water since moving to Spurs from Juventus in January, scoring six goals and assisting ten more in the Premier League in that time.
The Swede pips Bukayo Saka and Jarrod Bowen into a spot on the right flank, while Raheem Sterling is a lock on the left.
Sterling's performances have been a bright spark in Chelsea's otherwise disappointing start to the season, and the England ace just pips Son Heung-min, Richarlison, Gabriel Martinelli and Wilfried Zaha to a place in the side.
Martin Odegaard is our second Arsenal selection as the team's wily No10, and would look to feed North London rival Harry Kane up top.
- Alex Cole
Boehly's big All-Star plan
Chelsea chief Todd Boehly wants a Premier League All-Star game.
While commonplace in US sports, the English top flight has never staged such a match.
The occasion would bring stars from different Prem sides together, with Boehly proposing a North vs South format.
He reckons that the cash generated could fund the English pyramid and help to "evolve" the game.
The plan has already received opposition from Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.
But if such a match were to happen, which Prem stars would get the nod?
Players from the ten clubs from Aston Villa and above would be eligible for the northern team, while those from London and the South Coast would provide the opposition.
- Alex Cole
Klopp responds to Boehly’s All-Star plan
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp responded to Chelsea owner Todd Boehley’s proposed plans to host a Premier League All-Star game.
Klopp said: “He doesn’t hesitate, he doesn’t wait long! Oh great!
“When he finds a date for that he can call me! He forgets that in the big sports in America these players have four-month breaks so they’re quite happy to do a little bit of sport in these breaks.
“It’s completely different in football.
“What can I say? Does he want to bring the Harlem Globetrotters as well and let them play against a football team?
“I’m surprised by the question so please don’t judge my answers too much but maybe he can explain it to me at some point and find a proper date [for the match].
“I’m not sure too many people want to see that. Imagine that – Manchester United players, Liverpool players and Everton players all together in one team. It’s not a national team.
“Interesting game… and all the London guys together. Arsenal and Tottenham… did he really say that? Interesting…”
- Alex Cole
Arsenal vs Man City POSTPONED
Arsenal’s clash with Manchester City scheduled for October 19 has been postponed to create a date for the Gunners to play their Europa League tie against PSV Eindhoven.
The European match was initially scheduled for tomorrow night but was postponed due to a lack of police resources ahead of the Queen’s state funeral next Monday.
Uefa rules dictated that the Gunners had to find a new date to fulfil the fixture before the World Cup or forfeit the game.
Arsenal chiefs remained confident that it would not come to that, and have managed to squeeze the match in on October 20 by having their previously scheduled fixture against City called off.
The postponement avoids a problem with Uefa but is set to create even more fixture congestion further down the line.
Arsenal’s only other option would have been to move their League Cup clash with Brighton, currently scheduled for November 8.
- Alex Cole
Arsenal clash moved to midday
Arsenal yesterday confirmed that their clash with Brentford on Sunday will go ahead.
The fixture was under threat due to the policing issues surrounding the weekend’s games.
But it will now start two hours earlier than scheduled, at noon.
- Alex Cole
Newcastle set to land Australian wonderkid Kuol
Newcastle are set to sign 17-year-old wonderkid Garang Kuol, according to reports.
The Australian has just received a call-up to the national team ahead of the World Cup at the end of this year.
And BeIN Sports Australia suggest his week is about to get better claiming he is on the cusp of moving to the Premier League.
He has reportedly agreed personal terms with Newcastle and is set to sign a long-term contract worth £25,000-a-week.
Koul plays for Central Coast Mariners and he has scored five goals in 11 first-team matches.
The plan is for the teenager to stay at the A-League side until January before joining the Magpies where he will then be loaned out.
- Alex Cole
Champions League results
Here are the Champions League results from last night's seven matches.
Some big results in there for Europe’s elite but none more so than Liverpool’s late winner which saw them edge past Ajax 2-1 at Anfield.
- Sporting Lisbon 2-0 Tottenham
- Viktoria Plzen 0-2 Inter Milan
- Liverpool 2-1 Ajax
- Bayern Munich 2-0 Barcelona
- Porto 0-4 Club Brugge
- Marseille 0-1 Eintracht Frankfurt
- Bayern Leverkusen 2-0 Atletico Madrid
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