Good morning Arsenal fans
Juventus star Alvaro Morata has responded with a ‘sharp no’ to an approach from Arsenal.
The Gunners had contacted Morata’s representatives regarding a summer move to the Emirates, but the player has no intention of returning to London.
The 29-year-old spent two difficult seasons at Chelsea between 2017 and 2019, and refers to his previous experience in the English capital as ‘the dark’.
Reports in Italy quote the Spain international, who plays on loan at Juve from Atletico Madrid, as ‘not having good memories’ of his time in the Premier League and has felt much more comfortable since in Turin and Madrid.
Meanwhile, Arsenal are reportedly set for a bidding war with Newcastle over Lyon star Lucas Paqueta after Paris Saint-Germain appeared to pull out of the race.
The Gunners are eyeing a summer swoop for Paqueta to replace Granit Xhaka if he’s swayed by a move to Roma in the summer.
The Magpies are also keeping tabs on the versatile midfielder, who can play as a No8, No10, centre-forward or even a winger.
However, both Premier League sides can breathe a sigh of relief as the ChronicleLive claim PSG are no longer pursuing the Brazil international.
The Parisians are said to be focussing on recruiting Paul Pogba from Manchester United on a free transfer instead.
And Arsenal have been handed a boost following speculation linking Gabriel Magalhaes with a move to Barcelona.
Reports in Spain this week suggested that Barca were preparing to make a move for Gabriel to satisfy their need for a left-sided centre-back.
However, an interview with the Brazilian has given the Gunners hope that he will stay at the Emirates despite the attention from elsewhere.
Gabriel told Premier League Productions: “I feel good. I feel at home at Arsenal. It’s a great squad to be a part of and together I am sure we can achieve a lot. I am very happy here.
“Reaching the top four is our aim, but we know how tough it will be. It’s a big challenge but I do believe we can get there. We are working hard and it’s the target we want to achieve. We have to stick together. We need to be focused to get good results.”
Finally, Arsenal legend Ian Wright claims his former club has no chance of finishing in the top four after injuries to key players. Such as Takehiro Tomiyasu, Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey.
Wright told the Arseblog podcast: “There’s no way. When we lose Tomiyasu, Thomas Partey, and Kieran Tierney, there’s no we can stay in that top four with the players that we have got at the moment without those three.
“I’m not bothered about fourth because I knew we haven’t got the goals in our team, and we haven’t got the experience in it.
“I’m feeling top-six. I don’t want us to start dropping as that can have a detrimental effect on such a young squad. Have we got enough firepower to take us [to a top four finish]? It looks like we haven’t at the moment”
