Foot & Soccer Soccer Match Reports, Football News 
Gabriel Magalhaes, Alexander Isak, and Myles Lewis-Skelly (Picture by Alex Pantling, Stu Forster/Getty Photos)
The curiosity from Saudi Arabia in Gabriel Magalhaes is nothing new, it dates again a few years now.
In the summertime of 2023 there have been fears at Arsenal that Gabriel’s head had been turned by the cash that was on supply, which was why he was overlooked of the staff in these early video games that season.
Mikel Arteta publicly mentioned it was tactical, but it surely wasn’t. It was due to what was happening behind the scenes with the curiosity from Saudi.
Arsenal didn’t need to lose him and finally Gabriel stayed put, with Arteta swiftly restoring him to his beginning XI as soon as the scenario was put to mattress.
Since then Gabriel has clearly gone to type what, in my view, is the perfect centre-back partnership within the Premier League and presumably even the world with William Saliba.
So the very last thing Arsenal would need this summer time is a repeat of what occurred in 2023, however it might be no shock if the curiosity from Saudi did lead to a agency supply, though at this stage it’s a bit too early to recommend it positively will.
Clearly each participant has a value, so I can’t sit right here and say Arsenal shouldn’t even ponder a sale ought to a bid arrive, but it surely must be large to tempt them into doing enterprise – over £100m in my view.
Gabriel is so necessary to this staff at each ends of the pitch. He’s comfortably my Arsenal participant of the season and together with Saliba he’s the bedrock that the aspect is constructed on.
There are going to be modifications within the defensive midfield come the summer time which the staff goes to need to adapt to subsequent season, so that you don’t need to have modifications at centre-back as nicely.
So for me the necessary factor is getting Gabriel tied right down to a brand new contract as a result of he completely deserves one.
He was the primary participant to actually signal a brand new deal when Arsenal did their final spherical of renewals and I might think about his wages are at the moment a bit beneath that of Saliba, who signed his extension a yr later.
So he clearly warrants a brand new deal, one which displays his stature on this staff. He’s confirmed he is among the finest centre-backs on this planet and he must be paid as such.
Gabriel Magalhaes reacts throughout Arsenal’s win over Chelsea (Picture by Alex Pantling/Getty Photos)
He’s in a powerful place relating to contract talks. Early discussions began final yr and have but to achieve a conclusion, in order that’s one thing new sporting director Andrea Berta might want to concentrate on as soon as he begins his new function.
The curiosity from Saudi will little doubt complicate issues a bit, however I hope Arsenal will see it off and persuade Gabriel that his future stays in North London.
The Alexander Isak speak will not be going to go away.
Each time he does one thing good, the hypothesis over a transfer to Arsenal will resurface – because it has since Sunday’s fabulous win for Newcastle at Wembley within the Carabao Cup remaining.
We all know Arsenal want to signal Isak and we all know Mikel Arteta admires him significantly. Ought to a possibility to get him this summer time then I’m positive the membership would push the boat out to attempt to get it completed.
However I simply don’t see it occurring.
There’s a suggestion that if Newcastle miss out on a Champions League spot then the door may open a bit of bit by way of the opportunity of them cashing in on Isak, however even then I might think about it extraordinarily unlikely.
I’m positive they’d look to promote a number of different gamers first earlier than they’d think about a proposal for Isak, particularly from a home rival.
They simply don’t have to promote him. He’s received a long-term contract and even when he states that he doesn’t need to focus on an extension, there is no such thing as a want for them to let him go this summer time.
It will take a monumental supply to tempt them into doing enterprise for his or her prized asset and I simply can’t see Arsenal attending to a determine that may make Newcastle think about it
I’ve mentioned it earlier than and I nonetheless suppose that Benjamin Sesko is the way more possible choice relating to a brand new striker coming on this summer time.
The membership have completed loads of the groundwork relating to the Slovenia worldwide and RB Leipzig shall be open to doing enterprise on the finish of the season, in contrast to Newcastle.
It’s nice to see Myles Lewis-Skelly known as up for England obligation. It’s completely deserved.
Ideally, I believe Thomas Tuchel would have most likely most popular to let him have no less than one camp with the Beneath-21s first, however with different left-back choices unavailable he needed to embody him now actually.
As I mentioned, it’s a deserved call-up. Lewis-Skelly has been distinctive since coming into the first-team set-up at Arsenal this season.
Nothing fazes him and I’m positive this received’t both, even with the additional scrutiny that comes with being known as up by England.
The best way he has taken to senior soccer this season, each within the Premier League and within the Champions League has been so spectacular, particularly while you think about that he’s taking part in able that’s nonetheless comparatively new to him.
It wasn’t way back that he was often known as a central midfielder, a field to field participant who may pop up with necessary moments at both finish of the pitch.
So the very fact he has made himself the most effective left-backs within the nation in a brief house of time on the age of simply 18 reveals how clever a footballer he’s.
There’s a view that in some unspecified time in the future he’ll transfer additional up the pitch and again right into a midfield function, however I don’t actually see that taking place I’ve to say, not within the brief time period anyway.
I believe he fits that inverted left-back function so nicely and that permits him to function in central areas loads of the time anyway. So I don’t actually see the purpose of shifting him again into midfield proper now.
Honest play to Mika Biereth. It’s nice to see him doing so nicely at Monaco.
You count on to see his identify on the scoresheet each time they play in the meanwhile, given how prolific he has been since his transfer from Stern Graz in January.
It’s simple to take a look at it and say that Arsenal will remorse letting him go, particularly as he’s scoring so many at a time when the membership are having to function and not using a central striker.
However I don’t suppose Arsenal will see it that means. They are going to be completely satisfied to see him doing so nicely.
Extra Tales / Newest Information
Perhaps in hindsight they are going to suppose they need to have held out and never bought him for simply £4m to Sturm Graz within the first place, however he had made it clear at that time that he was not going to signal a brand new contract so that they weren’t in an excellent place to barter.
I do know they had been fairly pleased with the deal they received on the time with Sturm Graz and in addition the sell-on payment they agreed, one which has seen them pocket an additional couple of million from his onward transfer to Monaco.
Arsenal appreciated Biereth when he was on the membership. They knew he was a superb goalscorer however there have been doubts over whether or not he could be ok to be the principle man on the membership, which is one thing he completely desires to be at any membership that he performs for.
So I believe it was a superb transfer for all events that he went out and received on together with his profession. It’s one that’s actually paying off for him thus far and lengthy might that proceed.
