Hojlund to face Gunners?
Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has refused to rule out using Rasmus Hojlund on Sunday against Arsenal, despite the uncertainty over the striker’s future.
He is one more option. We will see and Rasmus is still our player.
Ruben Amorim
Gyokeres plan
Mikel Arteta has outlined how he and his coaching staff plan to get the best out of new striker Viktor Gyokeres this season.
He said in his press conference today: “We want to do everything. First of all, understanding the player and exposing the player to the conditions that he can fulfil his incredible potential.
“Then that’s going to be the key, and the good thing is that many players, many strikers, they have come from different leagues, they have come to the Premier League and been successful.
“And it’s for us, creating the right context for Viktor to do what he does best, which is to score goals.”
Ins and outs
Here’s a quick glance at Arsenal’s business already this summer…
Arsenal’s transfer deals
IN
- Viktor Gyökeres – from Sporting Lisbon – £72m
- Noni Madueke – from Chelsea – £52m
- Martin Zubimendi – from Real Sociedad – £51m
- Christian Norgaard – from Brentford – £15m
- Cristhian Mosquera – from Valencia – £13m
- Kepa Arrizabalaga – from Chelsea – £5m
TOTAL – £208m
OUT
- Nuno Taveres – to Lazio – £4.4m
- Marquinhos – to Cruzeiro – £2.6m
- Jorginho – to Flamengo – free
- Kieran Tierney – to Celtic – free
- Takehiro Tomiyasu – released
- Thomas Partey – released
TOTAL – £7m
New U21 head coach announced
Arsenal have announced that Max Porter will take over as the club’s new U21 head coach.
Porter has been with the Gunners since 2017, where he started life as an U9s coach.
Since then he has worked with the U13s, U17s and U19s.
Academy manager Per Mertesacker said: “Max has got the qualities needed to be a successful leader and coach.
“The environment he creates for staff and young players is always one of high challenge and ultimate care. Max is driving the highest standards and is a brilliant colleague and coach.
“We are all looking forward to supporting Max as he continues to develop in this role, and thank him for all his hard work and commitment so far.”
Will Gyokeres start?
Arsenal fans are clamouring to find out if new striker Viktor Gyokeres will start against Manchester United on Sunday.
Although Arteta didn’t give an explicit yes, the Gunners boss hinted that his new frontman is ready to go.
He said: “He’s getting better and better every day. He’s normally a really fit player. It’s true that he hasn’t trained so much with us.
“He had those two moments in games when he’s participated and the feeling was very good, so let’s see what we do on Sunday.”
Odegaard remaining as captain
Mikel Arteta has revealed that his players overwhelmingly voted in favour of keeping Martin Odegaard as captain this season.
Arsenal legend Tony Adams had said earlier in the week that Odegaard should be replaces by Declan Rice, but Arteta has revealed that is not a sentiment shared by the squad.
He said: “Well, my opinion is clear. It’s not just my opinion, it’s all the staff and especially the players.
“I asked them to vote for the captain and I got the result yesterday.
“By a mile, by a big, big 100 marks, everybody’s choosing the same person, which is Martin Odegaard, which is the most clear sign that you can have, how they feel about who has to be their captain to defend, improve and win the matches that we want to win.
“So there’s no question about that.”
