Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang looks set to sit out Arsenal’s Premier League opener at Brentford.
Arsenal kick-off the new Premier League season tonight with a trip to west London to face a Brentford side that were promoted to the top-flight of English football via the play-offs back in May.
Mikel Arteta will be without three first-team players for the game, but he still has a strong squad to choose from.
As per Goal, the Gunners skipper has been absent from training for the past two days and is not expected to be involved when Mikel Arteta’s side get their 2021-22 campaign underway today.
There are reports that Roma director Tiago Pinto met with Tammy Abraham today, but there is little progress with the Chelsea striker, who is still tempted by Arsenal, so Plan B remains Alexandre Lacazette.
According to Il Tempo, the Corriere dello Sport and others, the meeting was held with director Tiago Pinto, agent Federico Pastorello and Abraham in London today.
It’s claimed the Giallorossi offered him the Number 9 jersey, regular playing time and a salary at €4.5m per season.
Abraham again asked for more time to consider his options, as his family are Arsenal fans and he is unsure about leaving London.
Meanwhile, Sportitalia are also now confirming that Arsenal will propose Lacazette as an alternative for Roma, therefore leaving Abraham to the Gunners.
It is entirely in Abraham’s hands now, as Roma have already agreed a transfer fee with Chelsea set at €45m, spread out over five instalments.
Another meeting is expected tomorrow, but the Giallorossi are looking around at other candidates if the situation drags on for much longer.
They already handed Edin Dzeko to Inter, practically for free, with Roma receiving just under €2m if the Nerazzurri qualify for the Champions League.
There are reports in Turkey that Michy Batshuayi has an agreement to leave Chelsea this summer and end his Stamford Bridge exile.
Besiktas have apparently made ‘great progress’ in an attempt to sign the Belgian. He has just a year left on his current Stamford Bridge contract.
The striker, 27, has been shipped out on loan four times in the last three years after struggling to earn his break with the Blues.
It is widely accepted Batshuayi will be allowed to leave the club for good this summer.
A move to Trabzonspor fell through but now reporter Nicolo Schira states negotiations are underway regarding a transfer to fellow Turkish side Besiktas.
A four-year contract is on the table, taking him up until 2025.
Further reports add the forward will earn £38,000 per week, including bonuses.
Batshuayi joined Chelsea from Marseille for £33million in 2016.
He racked up 25 goals in 77 appearances but struggled to make his mark as the No1 choice centre-forward.
Diego Costa, Alvaro Morata, Olivier Giroud and Tammy Abraham were all preferred during his time in SW6.
That saw the 25-cap Belgium international heading on temporary deals to Borussia Dortmund, Valencia and Crystal Palace twice.
Across those loans he scored 20 goals in 70 appearances.
Batshuayi’s imminent exit means it is one Belgian striker out and one Belgian striker in at Chelsea this summer.
The Blues confirmed the club-record signing of Romelu Lukaku for £97.5m on Thursday – seven years after selling him to Everton.
Reports in Italy claim Atalanta are in talks with Chelsea for wing-back Davide Zappacosta, who has also been linked with Fiorentina and a return to Genoa.
According to Sportitalia transfer expert Alfredo Pedullà, La Dea are in negotiations for a possible permanent switch, seeing as his contract at Stamford Bridge only runs to June 2022.
It would be coming full circle for the 29-year-old, who started out in the Atalanta youth academy in 2011 and was eventually sold to Torino in 2015.
Chelsea then purchased him for €25m in 2017, but he barely played, going on loan to Roma and last season Genoa.
Injuries slowed down his career progress, especially a torn anterior cruciate ligament in October 2019.
Fiorentina are also believed to be interested, if Pol Lirola finally completes his long-awaited transfer to Olympique Marseille.
Genoa would also be prepared to have Zappacosta back for another loan experience.
He impressed last term, with four goals and two assists in 25 Serie A appearances for the Grifone.
Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain reportedly have their eyes on Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger with the defender’s contract running down.
The German has only one year left on his current Stamford Bridge deal and could potentially sign a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club as early as January, with thw two European giants closely following his future, according to Sky Sports.
Turkish journalist Ekrem Konur also reports that Rudiger is the subject of interest from Real Madrid over a move in the summer transfer window.
The Spanish giants are preparing to make an offer for the 28-year-old defender. They have signed David Alaba but are expected to lose Raphael Varane who is set to a complete a move to Manchester United.
Speaking in a press conference ahead of the UEFA Super Cup win over Villarreal, he said: “As I said before, I wanted to concentrate on the Euros then after I come back, talks can start.
“That is what has happened for now. Talks have begun and we will see what time brings.”
Gary Neville reckons Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola would never have signed Romelu Lukaku.
The Red Devils hero believes the Chelsea signing, 28, was not well-suited to being a United forward during his two-year stint at Old Trafford.
And Neville reckons the Belgium star’s playing style would put him at odds with Liverpool’s and City’s approach.
Neville told The Overlap podcast: “Jurgen Klopp wouldn’t sign Lukaku in a million years.
“Neither would probably Pep Guardiola but Chelsea are the club that have had that type of striker.
“A [Diego] Costa, a [Didier] Drogba, a single point striker, that physical presence that wants to carry that line.
“They’ve had that in their armoury for 20 years. It suits Chelsea Football Club. He wouldn’t press from the front so he’d never suit Jurgen Klopp.”
But the Blues boss Thomas Tuchel insists Romelu Lukaku is the perfect fit for his new-look attack at Chelsea.
And Blues gaffer Tuchel ranks the Belgium star, 28, as one of Europe’s best forwards.
The former PSG boss said: “Romelu is one of the guys like Erling Haaland at Dortmund, Robert Lewandowski at Bayern Munich, Harry Kane at Tottenham, who is a real No 9, who loves to score and who has a presence in the box.
“That is not a secret. The sentence is easy to repeat for any coach in the world. We lost Olivier Giroud, who played a crucial role in the club.
“He was the kind of profile who likes to play with his back to goal, who likes to hold up balls, who creates space for Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic, who is ready to fight physically with defenders.”
After Romelu Lukaku said he is ‘happy to be back home’ at Chelsea, Inter fans pointed out he said the same thing about them in February.
The striker completed his transfer for €115m today and returned to the club he first joined in 2011 from RSC Anderlecht.
“Happy to be back home,” was his first tweet over the clip released by the Chelsea social media team.
Nerazzurri supporters, who are still waiting for his promised message to them, pointed out that Lukaku had said something remarkably similar only a few months ago.
When a supporter in England asked on Twitter when he was coming home, his response was: “I am home right now.”
Fans joked by suggesting wherever Lukaku lays his hat, that’s his home, as the song goes.
Inter fans defaced the mural of Lukaku that was only painted in May outside the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza to mark their Serie A title victory.
Former Chelsea defender David Luiz has expressed his excitment at the Romelu Lukaku’s return to Stamford Bridge.
The ex-Inter Milan goal machine sealed a £97.5million five-year move to the Blues which will see him return to Chelsea after leaving the club in 2014.
David Luiz told the Daily Mail: “Romelu deserves this move.
“I remember the day he missed the deciding penalty against Bayern Munich in the Super Cup (in 2013) and he was so sad, just a young boy. But he is not a kid now, he is a real man. I think he will prove to be amazing for Chelsea.”
Luiz signed for Chelsea from Benfica in 2011. The following year he was lining up in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich, in Munich.
The Brazilian played 120 minutes of the 1-1 draw and, in the shootout, placed his penalty into the top corner. Gary Neville called it ‘perfect’ on commentary.
He said: “I perhaps should not have played. But some special people encouraged me to take that step, to play even though I was not fit. They told me not to be scared. There was big pressure after that.
“Roman Abramovich spoke to me on the day of the game and asked, ‘How is your leg?’ I told him, ‘It does not matter, I play with my head and my heart’.
“He said, ‘Go away, I don’t want to see your face, I am so nervous!’ I said to him, ‘Don’t worry, we will win’.
“But it could have gone badly wrong. Imagine if I’d been forced off after 10 minutes, or I made a mistake for a goal because I could not run? It was a big, big decision.”
Did his hamstring hurt during his 10-yard run-up to his penalty kick? ‘Was it hurting during the penalties? It was hurting during the warm-up!
“But I was the only Brazilian in this game, that meant a lot. I had many things in my head trying to block out the pain — the dream, the love, the adrenalin.
“After the game, with the trophy, no one cared about my leg, not even me. It was only in the middle of the night when the adrenalin wore off that the pain returned.”
