Gossip: Messi 'blocks Ozil move', Alexis Sanchez chase heats up and more
For the first time in a long time, Arsenal fans can feel good about themselves this week after that sweet, sweet victory in the north London derby.
But it’s only taken until Thursday for cold reality to kick in. Today brings a Europa League match in chilly Cologne and a reminder that one win against Spurs will not be enough to persuade Alexis Sanchez to stay.
This reminder appears in the Mirror, which predicts a January “tug-of-war” for the Chilean – with Manchester City pulling on one end of the rope and Paris Saint-Germain yanking at the other.
With both sides topping their domestic leagues and Champions League groups, the non-cup-tied Alexis could be exactly the kind of guy they need to freshen things up in the second half of the season.
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However, the tug-of-war gets even more complicated when you read the Express, which has Real Madrid swanning over and pulling on the middle of the rope without any respect for standard tug-of-war protocol.
Zinedine Zidane’s side are attempting to “hijack” City’s move for Sanchez, which would reportedly prompt them to offload Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, with the latter player moving to Arsenal as a replacement for Sanchez! They’ve got it all worked out, see.
There is less encouraging news for Alexis’ fellow “contract rebel” Mesut Ozil, whose exciting move to Barcelona has evidently hit the buffers after being “blocked by Lionel Messi” (Star). The Argentine is reportedly “wary of Ozil’s propensity to go missing in certain games”. Brutal.
Wenger chooses Arsenal’s next manager
Perhaps of even greater interest to Arsenal fans, however, is the Star’s claim that the club have lined up Feyenoord coach Giovanni van Bronkhorst as their next manager.
When we say they have lined up, we actually mean Arsene Wenger, who has apparently identified the former Gunners left-back as his successor “when he steps down as manager”. Around the year 2037 then.
Should it be Wenger’s decision who replaces him anyway? Sir Alex Ferguson picked David Moyes as his successor at Manchester United, and that didn’t work out too well.
Meanwhile, the aforementioned Real Madrid have drawn up a “five-man shortlist” of transfer targets to “overhaul” their squad, says the Mail.
You’ll guess the first two, Harry Kane and Dele Alli, but possibly not the others, Paulo Dybala, Marquinhos and Kepa Arrizabalaga, the Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper.
Elsewhere, Liverpool have contacted PSG about a potential January loan move for out-of-favour German winger Julian Draxler (Talksport), Man City are battling Arsenal to sign the Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez (Manchester Evening News) and West Brom are set to “miss out” on appointing Sam Alardyce as their next boss because he wants “another crack at international management” (Mirror). The only question is, will he choose Italy or Brazil?
