Arsenal transfer news: Player left because of emerging wonderkid, Hugo Larsson links, & more

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Ethan Nwaneri changed the game against Leicester – and Arsenal know he’s ready

Saturday’s result against Leicester was huge for Arsenal. After the impressive away results against Spurs and Manchester City it would have been a massive blow to have dropped points against Leicester at home, especially after leading 2-0 at half-time.

Obviously Leandro Trossard got a lot of headlines because of the role he played in the third goal, but I honestly think Ethan Nwaneri was the player who gave Arsenal the lift they needed to go on and produce their dramatic late, late show.

His introduction in the 85th minute was exactly what the team and the fans needed at that point. You could really tell that the mood inside the ground was shifting as the clock ticked towards the 90 minute mark.

There was a realisation that Arsenal were about to throw two points away in costly fashion on the same day that Manchester City had been held at Newcastle.

But Nwaneri coming on changed everything. You could feel the energy inside the stadium shift from the moment he got on the ball, took on a couple of players and forced a save out of the keeper.

It was just what Arsenal needed at that time. Nwaneri was the spark that lifted everyone for that final push.

I would start him next weekend against Southampton. Honestly, I would have started him against Leicester. I just think he’s ready. I wouldn’t even be worried if he were to start against PSG, not that I think he will.

But the Southampton game would be perfect. In the absence of Martin Odegaard, he can just provide that bit of guile and creativity that Arsenal are perhaps missing, especially against teams that will sit deep against them.

The coaching staff know that he is ready to play, Arteta has admitted that himself in recent weeks. He is very much now a part of the first-team squad and his progress is a big part of why Fabio Vieira was allowed to leave on loan.

Obviously Arsenal do still have to tread carefully with him and they will. He will be carefully managed as his minutes increase, but I’m really looking forward to watching his development over the next couple of seasons.

How Gabriel Martinelli can hurt PSG on Tuesday night

I can’t wait for Tuesday night’s game.

I’m still not sure on this new Champions League format, but it is great when a game of this magnitude comes so early in a season.

It will be a big test for Arsenal and it will be interesting to see how they cope with the challenge of facing one of Europe’s elite sides.

They certainly won’t fear PSG and nor should they. I think they will look to get at them very quickly, they will press high and not allow them to settle.

We saw how PSG struggled to deal with Newcastle’s intensity last season at St James’ Park and I expect Arsenal to approach the game in the same way that Eddie Howe’s side did.

Arsenal’s threat will come from out wide, I’m convinced of that. Obviously Bukayo Saka will be important, but Gabriel Martinelli was excellent against Leicester and looks to be finding his best form again.

Martinelli was electric at times in the Champions League last season, arguably his best performances of the campaign came in that competition and I think he will have a big part to play on Tuesday night.

We know how good Achraf Hakimi can be going forward and Arsenal will have to watch out for him, but he does leave space in behind when he presses forward and that could be perfect for Martinelli to exploit.

I think the Brazilian is going to be key for Arteta’s side.

Arsenal likely to target young midfielder next summer

I can’t sit here right now and say with any confidence who Arsenal will bring in next summer when it comes to their midfield, but it’s certainly an area that they will be looking to strengthen.

Thomas Partey is out of contract and as of yet there have been no talks about extending his deal. The expectation at this stage is that he will move on once his current contract expires.

Jorginho could also go and should that happen there will be an obvious need to bring in at least one replacement in the deeper lying central midfield position.

I think they will look to freshen up that area, potentially adding a big name and also a younger player, like they did when they signed Sambi Lokonga a few years back.

Obviously Lokonga didn’t work out, but you could see the logic behind the signing. So it doesn’t really surprise me to see them linked with players such as Hugo Larsson, whose reputation is growing at Eintracht Frankfurt.

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Maybe he could be an option they look at, but Arsenal do have to factor Myles Lewis-Skelly into the equation as well.

At the moment Arteta and his coaching staff seem to be moulding Lewis-Skelly into a modern day left-back, but we know he loves to play centrally and so a pathway does need to be left for him as well to make sure he can continue to develop.

Arsenal were never in for Cole Palmer, despite the Mikel Arteta connection

I think there will be a lot of clubs looking at Cole Palmer’s incredible form at Chelsea and look at him as one that perhaps got away.

But to be honest, I don’t think anyone imagined he would be quite as good as he is, even if he was already known as the one of the brightest young talents at Manchester City who they decided to let him go.

What he’s doing at Chelsea is incredible and it looks like he is only going to continue improving.

After such an impressive debut season at Stamford Bridge, there was always going to be a question over whether he could repeat his performances for a second successive campaign. But he’s answering that question quite emphatically right now.

I don’t believe Arsenal were ever in for him. I’ve certainly not heard that anyway. I don’t think City would have sold him to them even if they were, given the rivalry between the clubs.

That was the same summer that Arsenal were interested in potentially bringing Joao Cancelo to the Emirates, but City made it clear that was a deal that was not going to happen, even though they had allowed Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus to make the same move 12 months earlier.

So I think Arsenal would have got the same sort of response if they had asked about Palmer anyway.

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