MORNING FOOTY FANS
Arsenal legend David Seaman has begged Mikel Arteta not to settle for Gunners being a ‘cup team’ and aim for Premier League glory.
Former keeper Seaman said: “Around 1993 we dropped off in the league but in the cups we were doing OK.
“When Arsenal are not challenging it is a bad season and we were well off it — and it wasn’t until Arsene Wenger came in that things started to change.
“And even then it took two years to win the league and the first Double.
“It’s maybe like what’s going on now. The team’s focus has changed towards the cups with the league out of reach.
“But it’s a dangerous game to play if you want to end your bad league form. You can’t just turn it on for the cup.
“You have to start building confidence in the league or you could be cut adrift.
“I like what I am seeing so far, the team just needs to be more consistent.
“We are getting performances and little runs, then we get beat and I think, ‘Really? We got beat by them?’.
Elsewhere, SunSport can exclusively reveal Arsenal are close to finalising a summer deal for Sporting Lisbon striker Tiago Tomas.
SunSport understands Gunners technical director Edu has been in direct contact with Sporting Lisbon director of football Hugo Viana over the deal.
The 18-year-old signed a new five-year contract with the Portuguese giants in June 2020 with a release clause of £52m.
However, due to the current economic climate and Sporting’s spending in recent years, it is understood the club may accept a deal as low as £20m.
At Spurs, Jose Mourinho says Tottenham selling Carabao Cup Final merchandise is not the act of a small club but of a desperate need to raise money.
Spurs were ridiculed on social media this week when they unveiled a range of souvenirs marking their Wembley clash with Manchester City on April 25 – with rival fans claiming teams should only celebrate winning trophies.
But Mourinho, who has been trying to instil a winning mentality at the London club, has no problem with keyrings, lanyards and commemorative mugs being sold after the pandemic hit finances hard.
He said: “We have empty stadiums, an incredible stadium always empty. How many millions is Tottenham losing every match we play at home?
“How many millions is Tottenham losing per month?
“We have to make money so we go to a final, try to sell some pins, some shirts, key-rings, anything. So well done.”
At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea are reportedly set to offer Jorginho to Inter Milan in exchange for Christian Eriksen plus an extra £18million.
According to Italian publication Calciomercato, Chelsea have made contact with Inter Milan over a move for the 28-year-old.
The Blues are aware that Inter Milan, managed by former boss Antonio Conte, are long-term admirers of Jorginho.
But the Stamford Bridge side believe Jorginho, 29, has a much higher market value than Eriksen.
As a result, Chelsea will also demand an extra £18million in order to get the deal over the line.
And finally at Manchester United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants his players to stay off social media to avoid abuse.
Personal and racial abuse of players has become rife on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Red Devils stars including Marcus Rashford and Axel Tuanzebe have received horrific messages recently.
United boss Solskjaer said: “We’ve already come too far anyway at this concept and the abuse has gone overboard and is unacceptable.
“We would hope we have educated our players enough to stay away from much of the criticism.
“To stop this would be easy, should be so easy that people just have to verify who they are and not all those fake name and stuff. That’s my wish if you want to have an account it has to be verified.”
And finally, Prem clubs received a late blow yesterday as Bayern Munich won the race to sign RB Leipzig star Dayot Upamecano.
Sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic confirmed the French centre-back will be heading to Bavaria this summer despite strong interest from the Premier League.
Bayern will meet Upamecano’s £37million release clause after he agreed a five-year contract.
And it means suitors Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool will not be getting their hands on the 22-year-old, rated as one of the best young centre-backs in Europe.
