Edu’s £25m transfer error confirmed as Arsenal target summer deal for Manchester City star


Here is your Arsenal morning digest for Thursday, April 15.

Arsenal’s Bellingham mistake

Borussia Dortmund star Jude Bellingham once again provided proof as to why he is a genuine contender to be named in England’s squad for this summer’s European Championships last night.

The teenage midfield star scored the opening goal of the game during Dortmund’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final second-leg with Manchester City.

Although Ederson could have done better in his attempts to keep it out, it was a fine finish from the youngster, as he once again sent a reminder to many Premier League clubs as to what they have missed out on.


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One of those, of course, is Arsenal. Despite the Gunners being aware of the youngster’s talents, transfer guru Edu ‘didn’t know anything’ about him to pursue a move for him, according to former Gunners star Tony Adams.

Adams, speaking back in November, said: “I think it got lost, this one, in the transition of the chief scout [Steve Morrow] at Arsenal going out.

“He was spotted very early on, not by me, by the Arsenal recruitment office. The chief scout was absolutely bowled over by him and the great prospect that he is.

“He had more or less done the deal, but at that moment the new sporting director Edu came in from Brazil and had no European experience and no UK experience.

“I think it got lost in the transition, Edu didn’t know anything about this player.”

Click here to read the full story.

Arteta issues injury update

Gunners chief Mikel Arteta is unsure if he will be able to call upon Martin Odegaard and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for tonight’s UEFA Europa League quarter-final second-leg with Slavia Prague.

The duo were both absent from Sunday’s 3-0 win over Sheffield United due to an ankle injury and through illness, respectively.

Odegaard suffered his latest ankle blow during the Gunners’ 3-0 defeat to Liverpool earlier this month whilst Aubameyang only stepped off the bench against Slavia in the first-leg last Thursday.

But with Arsenal having to score to progress to the last-four, Arteta could do with both of them being fit and available for selection. However, he has been unable to provide a definite answer as to whether or not they will be available.

“I don’t know, we have to see today [Wednesday] how they are,” said the Spaniard during his pre-match press conference yesterday morning.

“We still have a couple of other ones as well in the last few days so we will have to see how everyone is today and after training how they react for tomorrow’s game.”

To read everything else that Arteta had to say during his pre-match press call, click here.

Gunners rejoin Garcia race

Arsenal have rejoined the race to sign Manchester City centre-back Eric Garcia.

That is according to a report by the Daily Star, who claim Arsenal are to rival Chelsea for his signature this summer.

Garcia is out-of-contract at the Etihad Stadium this summer and looked poised to return to Barcelona – the club he started his career with.

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However, the financial issues Barcelona are currently facing has put pay to those hopes, meaning it remains anyone’s guess as to where the defender could end up ahead of the start of next season.

It is claimed that Barcelona have had to reduce the terms offered to Garcia, who had already agreed a deal to return to his former stomping ground.

Now, Arsenal, unsurprisingly, have been put on red-alert in their hopes of signing him this summer.





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