ARSENAL have made their WORST start to a season in their 118-year history following their 2-0 home defeat by Chelsea.
And winger Willian may have secretly been happy about it after appearing to 'like' the Blues' celebration post.
Before the match, Josh Kroenke announced in his programme notes that Granit Xhaka would be signing a new contract.
And he could be joined in midfield by Corentin Tolisso, who Bayern Munich have put up for sale.
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Get all the latest transfer news, gossip and updates below…
- Joshua Jones
MORNING ARSENAL FANS
Arsenal could be open to selling TEN PLAYERS this month, including skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – but they are back in for Kieran Trippier.
That's the dramatic speculation after the Gunners' second successive 2-0 Premier League defeat.
Skipper Aubameyang, 32, only signed a new three-year, £350,000-a-week contract 11 months ago.
But it's claimed boss Mikel Arteta will listen to offers for many senior players – and could yet make more signings himself before the transfer window closes.
Arteta is reportedly keen to bring in a new right-back – but needs Atletico Madrid to slash their £34million valuation of England's Trippier.
Meanwhile, Willian’s first club Corinthians are said to be lining up a bid for the 33-year-old wideman.
The ex-Chelsea and Brazil star would prefer to stay in Europe but has also been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia – after interest from the MLS last summer.
Midfielder Granit Xhaka celebrated his new Gunners contract by insisting they can still “achieve something big” – despite opening with defeats against Brentford and Chelsea.
The Swiss ace added: “After two games a lot of people are talking about this team and about this club but I will say no season finishes after two or three games.”
But worried Arsenal legend Ian Wright labelled Arsenal's tactics and overall performance in Sunday's home loss to Chelsea as "frightening".
And Wrighty didn't mean it as a compliment.
- Ian Tuckey
GUNNERS ON TRIPP FOR A RIGHT-BACK
Arsenal are ready to revive their interest in Kieran Trippier – but need Atletico Madrid to slash their asking price.
The Gunners were told last month that Three Lions full-back Trippier, 30, was keen to return to England after two successful seasons in LaLiga.
They were shocked when Atletico demanded the full £34million release clause within the former Tottenham defender’s contract.
But with less than a year still to run on his deal – and with Trippier failing to make Diego Simeone’s starting line-up for their opening two games – Arsenal hope that the Spanish champions will be open to negotiation.
Atletico are desperately trying to offload players as they count the cost of the Covid pandemic.
But they are not in the mood to do Arsenal any favours after falling out over Thomas Partey’s £45m move last year.
And they know Gunners boss Mikel Arteta is desperate for a right-back before the transfer window closes next Tuesday.
- Ian Tuckey
ARTETA 'NAIVE' OVER LUKAKU
Mikel Arteta was 'naive' to think his Arsenal defence could manhandle Chelsea hitman Romelu Lukaku, Jamie Carragher said.
The Belgium international had a field day and scored in the Blues' 2-0 win over the Gunners on Sunday.
The £97.5million man ran the Arsenal defence ragged from the first whistle and embarrassed centre-back Pablo Mari on a number of occasions.
And former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes Arteta was incredibly optimistic with his plan to nullify the Belgian, saying: "There was a plan.
"But as I said, to think Arsenal's back four or back three could almost go man-for-man against Chelsea, as I said before, was very naive."
Lukaku, 28, was thrilled with his performance at the Emirates, telling the BBC: "Dominant, I would say.
"I try to improve every time. I have a long way to go but today was good to win. I worked hard throughout the week. We knew it was a big game and we did well.
"As an individual, I want to help the team and I want to continue doing that."
- Ian Tuckey
WILLIAN 'IN TALKS' WITH CORINTHIANS
Arsenal flop Willian is believed to be in talks with home country club Corinthians just a summer after joining Arsenal on a three-year deal.
Willian scored just once from his 37 games for the Gunners last season, and has failed to feature in Arsenal's opening two Premier League fixtures.
And he enraged supporters of the North Londoners on Sunday after appearing to 'like' a Chelsea Instagram post celebrating their win over Arsenal.
Now, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has declared Willian has a proposal from Corinthians.
Romano tweeted: "Corinthians have made an official bid to Willian, confirmed. He wants to leave Arsenal since May and he’s now considering Corinthians proposal.
"Willian has never been in talks with Al Ahli – priority still to European clubs, but Corinthians are now pushing."
- Ian Tuckey
KANE BARRIER TOO BIG FOR CITY
Tottenham are reportedly confident of keeping Harry Kane as they believe a potential move to Manchester City is ‘virtually impossible’.
The Mail claims Daniel Levy believes he will win the tug-of-war for Spurs’ star striker following a £100million bid from the champions.
It’s thought Pep Guardiola’s side offered an initial £75m for England captain Kane.
And that fee would rise to £100m with add-ons and bonuses.
However, that offer was snubbed outright for Spurs, who have always maintained it will take at least £150m for them to sanction Kane’s exit.
City, who have already shattered the £100m mark by landing Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish, remain eager to wrap up a deal for Kane before deadline day.
However, with just over a week remaining, Tottenham believe they are in the driving seat over Kane’s future.
And one man who believes the forward needs to get used to the idea of staying is Peter Crouch, who had a similar tough encounter with Levy when being forced out of Spurs in 2011.
- Ian Tuckey
‘POGBA FOR REAL NEXT SEASON’
Real Madrid sold Martin Odegaard to Arsenal to lay the track to land long-term target Paul Pogba on a free next summer.
Pogba’s deal with Manchester United is due to end in 11 months and Spanish newspaper ABC are reporting that will be the best time for the France star to finally realise his “dream” of playing for Los Blancos.
The report says the wheels for Pogba’s trip to Madrid have also been oiled by the Gunners completing the £30million signing of Odegaard, 22, this summer.
The Norway midfielder spent the second half of last season on loan from Real Madrid but has now signed on a permanent basis.
In addition to easing pressure on Real’s wage bill, ABC say the Odegaard switch has helped clear the way for Pogba, 28, to become the natural successor to Croatia captain Luka Modric, 35, in Madrid’s midfield.
ABC say Real have not been prepared to pay the sky-high transfer fee United would have slapped on Pogba in the middle of his contract.
But if he becomes a free agent next summer that will be the “definitive opportunity” to finally land their man.
The report adds the Spanish giants will adopt a similar approach to swoop for Pogba’s fellow French World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe, 22, who is in the final year of his deal at PSG and has just seen the Ligue 1 champions bring in Barcelona legend Lionel Messi.
- Ian Tuckey
XHAKA: WE CAN STILL 'ACHIEVE SOMETHING BIG'
Midfielder Granit Xhaka celebrated his new Arsenal contract by insisting they can still "achieve something big" despite opening with a pair of 2-0 Premier League defeats.
The Swiss star said: "After two games a lot of people are talking about this team and about this club but I will say no season finishes after two or three games."
Credit: Getty - Ian Tuckey
CORINTHIANS 'BID FOR WILLIAN'
Willian's first club Corinthians have been linked with an "official bid" for the 33-year-old Arsenal wideman.
The former Brazil star left the home country club in 2007 but has struggled afteer leaving Chelsea for the Emirates 12 months ago.
And journalist Fabrizio Romano says William is "keen" to move on, but would prefer to stay in Europe.
Credit: Getty - Ian Tuckey
GUNNERS' BLANK AWARD
Prem fans have been teasing Arsenal – to say the least – as they prepare to follow up their two opening 2-0 losses with Saturday's trip to… champions Manchester City.
One supporter wondered suggested if, the Gunners fire blanks again, they will "have to select their goal of the month from training sessions".
And while some non-Arsenal fans gloried in their plight it also produced some unusual dilemmas.
This tweet summed that up: "What a difficult situation, i want Arsenal to win so that city can drop points but also wants Arsenal to lose to see Arsenal in 20th place."
- Ian Tuckey
FOUR’S TO BE RECKONED WITH
They’re four of the biggest names in football – but who is the best striker in the world right now?
Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Robert Lewandowski and Romelu Lukaku have all been in red hot form since the turn of the year and here’s a look at the numbers they average per 90 minutes.
The 28-year-old joined Chelsea for the second time in a £97.5million deal from Inter earlier this month.
And in doing so he became the second most expensive Premier league player of all time behind £100million man Jack Grealish.
The Belgian forward fired Inter Milan to their first Serie A title since 2011 last season, and also won the FA Cup with Chelsea in 2012 in his brief first spell at Stamford Bridge.
He also won a Belgian title with Anderlecht in 2009.
In terms of goals Lukaku averages less per game than Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland, but he does create more chance than both of the Bundesliga strikers and Harry Kane.
- Ian Tuckey
GUNNERS GAVE ME AN (IAN) FRIGHT
Ian Wright has labelled Arsenal's performance against Chelsea on Sunday 'frightening' as he mourns the state of his current team.
The legendary striker was one of many Gunners supporters forced to witness Arsenal drift to an insipid 2-0 defeat against their London rivals.
Manager Mikel Arteta has come under increasing pressure since the start of the campaign, which has seen them endure back-to-back defeats without scoring a goal – marking the club's worst start in their 118-year history.
And Wright had some damning words for his former club while working as a pundit on Match of the Day.
When asked if he thought they had improved on the Brentford defeat, he said: "No they didn't, especially coming off of the Brentford game which was really quite disappointing.
"Brentford… we know what they are coming from, we know what they are going to be like, it looked like we weren't prepared for them.
'When you looked at the way that Chelsea played us today and the way Lukaku played, either they are not prepared, they are not listening, or they can't perform what he wants them to do.
"I don't know what the tactics were. Because when you look how easily they were able to breach. For me it was quite frightening."
- Ian Tuckey
LOSS LEADERS
Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea’s staggering losses for the 2019/20 Premier League season have been revealed.
Finances in England’s top flight took a huge hit when the coronavirus pandemic brought football to a standstill last year.
There were no games in over three months as clubs scrambled to reshuffle their finances.
And fans are only just getting used to returning to stadiums in numbers once again.
As a result, there were massive drops in revenue for every Premier League club in the 19/20 campaign – bar the three teams promoted from the Championship.
Excluding Aston Villa, Norwich and Sheffield United, who all benefitted from new lucrative TV deals, the other 17 teams saw a combined loss of £618MILLION due to Covid-19.
According to Swiss Ramble, United had the biggest loss in the top flight, numbering £118m. Next in line were Tottenham with a deficit of £69m.
Man City (-£57m), Arsenal (-£52m) and West Ham (-£51m) were also hit hard.
Liverpool and Chelsea fared only slightly better, with respective losses of £43m and £40m.
But Everton managed to drop just £2m.
- Ian Tuckey
GUNNERS HAVE 'LOST THEIR DNA'
Former France and Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna claims the Gunners have "lost their DNA" after spending £150million this summer only on players for the FUTURE.
- Ian Tuckey
ANGRY FANS BLOCK ARTETA'S CAR
Furious Arsenal fans blocked Mikel Arteta's car and told him to "do yourself a favour" and leave the club after Sunday's 2-0 loss to Chelsea.
The Gunners have made the worst start to a season in their 118-year history, losing their opening two Premier League games to Brentford and Chelsea respectively.
Goals from the returning Romelu Lukaku and Reece James sealed the three points for the Blues, sending them to the top of the Premier League table.
The Arsenal players were booed off at both the half-time and full-time whistle as a result, and the Gunners find themselves in the bottom three.
Boss Arteta bizarrely remained upbeat when asked about the fan's reaction to the result.
He said: "I must thank the fans, even when things were looking difficult they tried to give the players a boost.
"I see a lot of positives with the crowd and the team today.
"At the end I didn't see any bad reaction with any of the players. But that is my opinion.
"Feeling sorry for yourself does not help.
"You have to face the challenge, face the criticism – because it will come."
- Ian Tuckey
NO MADD BID
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers says Arsenal never made an enquiry or his bid for his England playmaker James Maddison this summer.
It was suggested only last week that the Gunners had ‘pulled the plug’ on a deal for Maddison after having their latest offer knocked back.
Arsenal apparently grew tired of having ‘multiple bids for the playmaker’ rejected and decided to wrap up a move for Martin Odegaard instead.
Rodgers said: “There have been things this year around James, it was all paper talk, gossip, because there was never an enquiry, never a bid.”
- Ian Tuckey
GUNNERS WILL 'LISTEN TO OFFERS FOR 10 PLAYERS'
Arsenal are reportedly now open to offers for TEN PLAYERS this month, including captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Gunners' skipper Aubameyang only signed a new contract with the North London outfit in September 2020.
Credit: Getty But according to The Telegraph, the Gabon international – who tested positive for coronavirus before the opening game of the season and has not featured so far as a result – is now considered to be one of TEN players Arsenal are interested in receiving bids for.
The rest of the potential departures are Bernd Leno, Hector Bellerin, Sead Kolasinac, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Lucas Torreira, Willian, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah and Alexandre Lacazette.
However, unlike some of the fringe players looking to be sold over the next week or so, Aubameyang's extortionate wages could prevent him from securing a move.
The 32-year-old earns around £250,000 a week, so there are only a select number of clubs who would be able to take him on.
It was reported last week that Barcelona were eyeing a swap deal for Aubameyang, with ex-Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho heading the other way.
Arsenal are hoping to recoup some of the money they have invested this summer, with Arteta's side currently top of the Premier League's spending charts.
- Ian Tuckey
GRANIT DEAL SET IN STONE
Midfielder Granit Xhaka confirmed he’s signed a new Arsenal contract, reassuring fans he will ‘give everything’ he can to get the club back on the right track after two Prem straight defeats.
Xhaka had looked destined to join Serie A giants Roma earlier this summer but Jose Mourinho’s side were priced out of a move and the 28-year-old midfielder has decided to commit his future to the Gunners, signing a new long-term deal.
He told Arsenal’s media team: “‘I’m very happy I’m still here.
“I’ve signed a new contract of course and I want to give back, first of all to our staff, and then after to our fans, and they know I will give everything – in every game and every training session.
“So yeah, I think we have to show that as a team soon.”
- Kealan Hughes
LUC OUT
Arsenal midfielder Lucas Torreira is close to signing for Fiorentina, according to reports.
The Uruguayan will move to the Italian giants on loan for the season with an obligation to buy at the end of it, says football.london journalist Chris Wheatley.
Torreira’s agent had expressed his player’s desire to return to Italy this summer, but football.london reported last week the 25-year-old was keen to stay at the Gunners and fight for his place.
Mikel Arteta, however, told the player he was not part of his plans this season.
- Kealan Hughes
AUBA OFF?
Arsenal are reportedly ready to sell Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as they look to raise funds for new players following their worst start to a season in their 118-year history.
According to The Telegraph, Arsenal no longer consider Aubameyang indispensable and will not stand in his way if another club offers to buy him this summer.
The striker, who only 12 months ago signed a huge, new £350,000-per-week contract at the club, is understood to still be part of Mikel Arteta's plans but will be sold if an acceptable offer is made.
Arsenal's club captain endured his worst term as a Gunners player last season, scoring just 15 times, but has still attracted interest from Barcelona.
However, Aubameyang's high wage demands will likely be problematic for Barcelona, who are in the midst of a financial crisis.
- Kealan Hughes
'NEEDS TO START'
Martin Keown praised Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's performance in the London derby, suggesting he ‘looked sharp’ during his cameo appearance against Chelsea.
The Gunners captain missed last week's match against Brentford but he returned to action yesterday as Arsenal fell to another defeat in the Premier League.
Keown liked what he saw from the speedster and now he wants him to start the next Premier League game.
He told Premier League productions: “In the final third, they looked extremely disappointing but Aubameyang looked sharp when he came on.
"But maybe he needs to start games now. COVID has played a part in the start of this. But this is a terrible start. Man City to come next.
“And I can feel the pressure building in the stadium, the fans are getting tetchy, people getting angry and a lot of people leaving early. He needs to turn it around it very quickly."
- Kealan Hughes
XHAK THAT
Granit Xhaka has hit out at Arsenal critics who booed the side off after their 2-0 loss to London rivals Chelsea on Sunday.
Xhaka – who started the game as captain whilst Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang manned the bench – has called on his team-mates and fans to stick together.
But also hit out at critics who are trying to "kill a little bit the players and the team."
Speaking to Arsenal's official website after the game, Xhaka said: "Of course (motivated by criticism).
"The other way is by staying together. A lot of people try to speak and to kill a little bit the players and the team.
"But the strongest thing to do at the moment is to be together, and only together will we be stronger and give the results on the pitch after."
- Kealan Hughes
TAKING THE MIK
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was reportedly left fuming after Emile Smith Rowe failed to press properly against Chelsea.
But even after a dressing down, the attacking midfielder still looked 'confused'.
According to Football London, the 39-year-old could be seen at one point 'angrily gesticulating' at Smith Rowe.
Arteta was said to be fuming at the 21-year-old for 'not pressing high enough'.
But FL claim that even receiving a shellacking from his boss, Smith Rowe still appeared 'uncertain' as to what to do.
- Kealan Hughes
'IT WAS ALL PAPER TALK'
Brendan Rodgers has claimed that Arsenal never made an enquiry or a bid for Leicester City playmaker James Maddison this summer.
It was suggested only last week that the Gunners had ‘pulled the plug’ on a deal for Maddison after having their latest offer knocked back.
Arsenal apparently grew tired of having ‘multiple bids for the playmaker’ rejected and decided to wrap up a move for Martin Odegaard instead.
Rodgers said: "There have been things this year around James, it was all paper talk, gossip, because there was never an enquiry, never a bid."
- Kealan Hughes
GO ALL IN
James Maddison proved he is a betting man – but Arsenal fans are desperate their club takes a gamble on the midfielder.
The Leicester star, 24, took to Instagram over the weekend with an adorable picture.
Maddison shared a pic in a black t-shirt and backwards cap with his French Bulldog propped up on his lap as they both look over a poker table.
The snap, tagged at Home Sweet Home with one of his England shirts in the background, was liked by more than 76,000 people.
Maddison – whose two dogs are called Diego and Denzel – captioned the post: "We all in bro?"
And it led to a barrage of comments on the post begging the Three Lions international to fold on Leicester and head straight for Arsenal after a summer of transfer speculation.
One wrote: "All in on red."
Another said: "Gamble and join Arsenal."
- Kealan Hughes
XHAKA SPEAKS
Arsenal star Granit Xhaka has confirmed he’s put pen to paper on a new contract, reassuring fans he will ‘give everything’ he can to get the club back on the right track after such a disappointing start to the season.
Xhaka had looked destined to join Serie A giants Roma earlier this summer but Jose Mourinho’s side were priced out of a move and the 28-year-old midfielder has decided to commit his future to the Gunners, signing a new long-term deal.
He told Arsenal's media team: "‘I’m very happy I’m still here.
"I’ve signed a new contract of course and I want to give back, first of all to our staff, and then after to our fans, and they know I will give everything – in every game and every training session.
"So yeah, I think we have to show that as a team soon."
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