Arsenal transfer news: Surprise suitors for Bellerin, London battle for Shaw, and more - 11th November 2017
Juventus contact Bellerin
Arsenal's no.1 right-back Hector Bellerin has been linked to Barcelona for a while now as he was born and brought up in Catalonia. Apart from the Blaugrana, he is rumoured to be a target for Manchester City, with former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola at the helm.
However, this could come as a surprise for Arsenal as Italian outlet, Tuttomercatoweb, are reporting that Italian giants, Juventus, are now interested in the Spaniard. The Turin club lost high-flying Dani Alves in the summer and signed Mattia De Sciglio from AC Milan as a replacement.
Apart from the Italian, Massimiliano Allegri has only 33-year old Stephan Lichtsteiner to fall back upon.
On the other hand, Bellerin is 22 years of age and is equally adept at playing in the right-back or right wing-back role when needed. No wonder, Juventus directly went in and contacted the player's entourage as per the report.
However, the Spaniard is the only proper right-back at Arsene Wenger's disposal and is touted to be one of the best young players in the world right now. While the club has a few midfielders who can play in a right wing-back role, 32-year old Mathieu Debuchy is the only other recognized right-back in the side.
Thus, it is highly unlikely Arsenal will sell the player after rebuffing the likes of Barcelona and Manchester City in the summer.
Arsenal and Chelsea monitoring Luke Shaw
The left-back joined Manchester United in 2014 from Southampton with every top English club looking to sign him. However, the 22-year old has struggled to nail down a starting spot during his time at the club.
The arrival of Jose Mourinho in 2016 further alienated the player as the Portuguese tactician continuously plays the likes of Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo, Matteo Darmian and Ashley Young in the position.
As the situation remains unchanged this season, Shaw is now looking for more playing time, especially with the World Cup on the horizon. Subsequently, the Telegraph reports that both Arsenal and Chelsea are interested in the Englishman. Apart from them, Tottenham and Everton are also supposedly interested in the player.
Despite signing a left-back in the summer in Schalke's Sead Kolasinac, the Gunners sold Kieran Gibbs to West Brom and the ageing Nacho Monreal is now picked by Wenger in the back three. Thus, Shaw could provide good competition for Kolasinac while finding a nurturing environment to rediscover his form at the Emirates.
Roy Hodgson rules out Wilshere move
The 25-year old midfielder is struggling to secure playing time at Arsenal and has been mostly limited to cup competitions. As a result, the Arsenal no.10 has been snubbed by England manager Gareth Southgate with the latter preferring to call up Crystal Palace's Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Burnley's Jack Cork recently due to injuries to first-choice players.
Hence, Jack Wilshere has been linked with a move away from the Emirates with several clubs interested. Out of them, Crystal Palace were rumoured to be preparing a bid for the midfielder in January. However, the Eagles manager, Roy Hodgson, has ruled out any move for the player and explained the same to the Evening Standard:
“We have never mentioned his name. I work with [sporting director] Dougie Freedman and we talk about potential players and Jack Wilshere’s name has never been mentioned.
“I have got no idea about where the name of Jack Wilshere has come from, so where did you get it from? I will tell you who – his agent.”
While that rules out Palace from making a move for the player, West Ham are among the other clubs interested in the player.
Meanwhile, Wenger has publicly stated that Wilshere has to earn his new contract, as the current one expires in the summer. It remains to be seen how the whole situation unravels and whether Wilshere will be an Arsenal player next season.