Arsenal Update Megamix: Walcott Exit Almost Confirmed, Mkhitaryan Indecision Stalling Sanchez Deal, New Contract Offered To Wilshere

Chris Wright

16th, January 2018

5 Comments

Embed from Getty Images

While nothing much has actually transpired as yet, it looks like January is about to get interesting at Arsenal. In fact, there’s so much gubbins in today’s papers that we’ve taken the liberty of compiling it all in this ‘ere Update Megamix™.

First up, it looks like Theo Walcott has played his final game for the Gunners, with a £20million (rising to £25million) switch to Everton very nearly signed, sealed and delivered.

BBC Sport journalist David Ornstein has the pertinent details…

Walcott will be the first taxi to leave the Arsenal rank this month, with Alexis Sanchez next up – not that there has been much movement on that front since yesterday.

Indeed, the thorny issue of Henrik Mkhitaryan’s involvement as part of Manchester United’s negotiations is serving to clog things up. Arsenal are keen to take the Armenian on, but the man himself isn’t quite as gung-ho.

In short, nobody really seems to know what’s going on, other than ‘not a lot’…

There was talk of Borussia Dortmund entering the fray to spring their former Player of the Year from the dungeon beneath Old Trafford, but it would appear that the Bundesliga side aren’t really fussed.

According to the ever-reliable Sky Sports sources, Arsenal are willing to go as high as €60million for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang despite reservations over his temperament following a spate of recent off-field disciplinary lapses.

Embed from Getty Images

Arsenal have also had a minor kibosh put on their pursuit of Brazilian winger Malcom, with Bordeaux president Stephane Martin declaring that the club “didn’t sign him to a contract extension to let him go in winter”, adding that Arsene Wenger will “struggle” to pluck the 20-year-old from the Girondins.

On a slightly more positive note, it’s being reported that The Gunners have finally got round to offering Jack Wilshere a new contract after the midfielder managed to prove his fitness for purpose with a string of impressive performances.

Of course it’s littered with clauses, caveats and asterisks.

Nothing’s ever simple and straightforward when it comes to Arsenal and their money.

Posted in Arsenal, Everton, Man City, Man Utd, Newsnow, Transfers & Rumours

Share this article: Email

5 Comments

  1. Paul says:

    I know Mkhitaryan isn’t exactly a starter at United, simply he’s fallen out of favour for his somewhat inconsistent performances. He’s either outstanding or just another player taking up space on the pitch, however what is undeniable is that he is a brilliant player within the right structure. Simply put, once Mourinho has shunned you it’s near on impossible to force yourself back into a starting place, so I understand this is a reason why he may want to move on.

    As a top level professional you want to be playing consistently and competing for honours. There’s no doubt that Mkhitaryan would be playing consistently at Arsenal, the issue is where Arsenal as a club are going… They are a feeder club to the Barcelona’s, Man United’s, Man City’s, et al. In terms of competing for trophies it’s only domestic cup competitions that they have a realistic chance of winning, these are trophies which don’t have the same appeal that they once did.

    After the amount of drama that goes on within Arsenal I completely understand why he isn’t jumping at the chance to join them. Imagine getting lambasted every weekend by the roadmen on Arsenal Fan TV (FYI Arsenal Fan TV is a hilariously wonderful watch), not to mention he’ll be joining a club without Sanchez and most likely Özil. It’s now up to Mkhitaryan to decide on his future but Arsenal in the last 11/12 seasons has been a bit of a poisoned chalice.

  2. Bruno says:

    It looks like everything depends on Arsenal. This is a quote from Mino Raiola on SkySports:

    The agent, who counts Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku among his clients, says he proposed the ‘Sanchez to Old Trafford, Mkhitaryan to Arsenal’ deal more than six weeks ago.

    But Raiola told Sky Sports News: “Mkhi’s problems at Man Utd are purely related to playing football. He has no problem with the manager. It is not personal. And he has two and a half years left on his contract. He doesn’t have to leave.”

    When asked to rate the chances of a deal being agreed with Arsenal, Raiola said: “At this moment low, but life is dynamic.

    “This is a great deal for Arsenal. They need better, younger players and they have to invest. So it’s up to Arsenal to put a deal in place and right now a deal is a long way off.”

  3. Beano says:

    More than £15mil for an almost 29 year old Walcott is hysterical, and I’m a fan.

  4. dc says:

    This will all end on January 31st with Sanchez joining one of the Manchester clubs at an even more discounted rate, Mikhy going to Dortmund or somewhere far away from London, and Arsene Wenger moaning about something related to there not being any deals in January or something of that like while he’s going around pursuing attacking players that JUST signed new contracts like it isn’t obvious they’re going to cost way above market value.

    I just don’t get it. Since Vieira left in 2005 you can spot the obvious flaw in Arsenal’s system of play: a solid defensive midfield force. Isn’t it obvious when you watch N’Golo Kante improve every team he joins? How he and Matic paired up to lead Chelsea to the title? How easily Matic slid into and improved Man Utd’s team? How Fernandinho has been undroppable with Man City this season? Or how every Arsenal game they give away goals than you can trace to Granit Xhaka or Elneny or Coquelin not tracking back or making some kind of error?

    He got Sead Kolasinac for free (I’d say one of the best signings of the season) and he doesn’t even play him anymore. I don’t even like Arsenal but Wenger is so obviously awful that it’s infuriating

    • Beano says:

      His biggest blunder was toying with Lucas Perez. Perez is a workhorse forward who just wants to be on the pitch and trying to score. He’s exactly the kind of high effort player they needed to pair with Lacazette and Sanchez, but Wenger wouldn’t play him (even though he scored almost every appearance he made for the team) and eventually loaned him back to La Liga, where he’ll likely stay.

Leave a Reply to Beano