A round-up of the latest Arsenal news as coach Mikel Arteta sets sights on an Aston Villa target and Alan Shearer surprises Gary Lineker with his Gunners transfer claim.
Hale End product Emile Smith Rowe is “feeling good” after returning from a knee injury earlier than expected via Arsenal. The 23-year-old missed six Premier League games between November and December due to the issue. But Mikel Arteta gave it back to him before Christmas.
Smith Rowe has since only featured for 12 minutes of top-flight football with brief cameos at home to Brighton and West Ham. He also enjoyed another brief cameo as Arsenal lost 2-0 to Liverpool in the FA Cup. Arteta has seldom trusted Smith Rowe to start in games this season.
Only two of Smith Rowe’s 12 appearances in all competitions over 245 minutes came in Arsenal’s starting XI. He opened a Carabao Cup draw at Brentford and a top-flight clash against Sheffield United. But the Arsenal academy product is confident he can pull it off. It will go in 2024.
“I feel smart now,” Smith Rowe told Arsenal’s website. “I’ve been back in education for a while and I’m very smart. I don’t think I did anything else in rehab, I just felt a lot better this time. “
“At first we thought the injury would last a little longer. But after a few weeks I started to feel smart. So I started and now I feel smart too. “
Read more about what Smith Rowe had to say about the Arsenal gem’s injury, here.
Arsenal now look interested in competing with Aston Villa for the signing of AS Roma left-back Leonardo Spinazzola. Reports from La Roma 24 note that Premier League rivals have an update on the 30-year-old’s agent, but still rule out the option of Spinazzola agreeing a new contract.
Davide Lippi has confessed that it is effectively impossible to envisage Spinazzola signing an extension beyond this season. His existing terms will expire in June after five years in Rome. The Giallorossi signed the 24-cap Italy international from Juventus back in 2019 for £26m.
Spinazzola is starting to envision a long career away from the Stadio Olimpico after struggling to carve out a place in Jose Mourinho’s defence this season. He has only played 11 of Roma’s 19 Serie A games so far this season. Spinazzola also played as a substitute in 3 games.
Read more about Arsenal’s decision to move Spinazzola from Roma, here.
Arsenal are expected to sign SSC Napoli striker Victor Osimhen above any other striker in the January transfer window. That’s the view of Shearer and Micah Richards, who ‘surprised’ Lineker by settling on the Nigerian as a centre-forward to solve coach Arteta’s biggest problem. .
The Gunners have shown interest in a potential deal for the 25-year-old this month, with the most sensible strikers on Arteta’s squad. TuttoJuve reports that Arsenal have Osimhen, Brentford’s Ivan Toney and Juventus star Dusan Vlahovic as three very worthy strikers. Move targets.
But Napoli will most likely ask for the full price of the $143 million (£112. 5 million) buyout clause they included in Osimhen’s new contract in December. However, Shearer and Richards agree that the home side of Lagos, with seven goals in thirteen Serie A games this season will be Arteta’s main target.
Richards told The Rest is Football when asked what position Arsenal’s top needed to improve in January: “A striker. “To which Shearer just added: “Osimhen. ” Richards backed the Premier League hero, adding: “Osimhen, he has signed a new contract with Napoli. “
Lineker replied: “I was surprised because they’ve struggled this season. What are they, seventh [or] eighth in the league? But Richards added, “Osimhen would be the only one. “
Read more about what Shearer, Richards and Lineker have to say about Osimhen at Arsenal, here.