Tag Futebol

Newcastle United didn't quite hit the mark last season, but mitigating circumstances made it rather hard for Eddie Howe to replicate the feats of the year before.

A seventh-place Premier League finish might've been enough for a place in the Conference League, but Manchester United defeated their city rivals in the FA Cup final and swiped the Magpies' silver.

A frustrating transfer window followed, but the significance of keeping a hold of the top assets cannot be understated. There was interest in Alexander Isak, but he remains at St. James' Park.

Why keeping Alexander Isak was so important

Two years ago, Isak joined Newcastle from Real Sociedad in a club-record signing worth £63m. He endured something of an injury-hit debut campaign but still scored ten goals from just 17 Premier League starts.

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As per FBref, he ranks among the top 14% of forwards across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for non-penalty goals scored, the top 16% for pass completion and the top 10% for progressive carries per 90, so it's clear to see why he's so well regarded. Indeed, according to CIES Football Observatory's player valuation model, he's valued at £82m currently.

Fabrizio Romano said that he was "untouchable" during the off-season despite a glut of proposals and sniffing around from high-profile suitors, and it's looking like the right decision, for he will be the catalyst to fire Newcastle back into continental competition.

He's extremely prolific – one of the best marksmen in Europe, in fact. However, there's a former Magpies flop who's actually proved to be more clinical than the Swedish sensation.

Joselu's even more clinical than Isak

We're talking about Joselu, who's enjoyed quite the career resurgence since departing St. James' Park way back when. The Spanish striker won La Liga and the Champions League with Real Madrid in May before winning the 2024 European Championship with his nation, defeating England in the final.

Newcastle signed Joselu from Stoke City for £5m in 2017, with Rafa Benitez welcoming his countryman after a middling spell with the Potters that saw him post four goals and three assists over 24 matches.

The nomadic centre-forward, however, flattered to deceive on Tyneside, flopping like a seal and scoring four times across 30 outings, fading into the background after an impressive start – especially so on home turf.

The 34-year-old's second campaign with Newcastle and final year in England proved disastrous, with Joselu notching two goals over the first three games but slumping thereafter, featuring only a few times across the latter half of the season.

It was no surprise when he was sold to Deportivo Alaves for just £2m in 2019. His potent career back in his homeland since has indeed seen him become an unlikely hero for Los Blancos after a prolific few years with Espanyol, scoring 17 goals for Real Madrid last year and notably netting both goals as his side dramatically defeated Bayern Munich in the semi-final of the Champions League.

His exploits have seen him earn a lucrative late-career transfer to Qatar, but according to FBref, the 6 foot 3 ace still ranks among the top 4% of forwards across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for non-penalty goals scored per 90, at a rate of 0.71.

Isak has bagged at a rate of 0.74 when taking penalties into consideration, but only 0.56 without, speaking highly of Joselu's ball-striking ability.

The older the violin, the sweeter the music. It's a shame that Newcastle couldn't get him playing to their tune.

Newcastle struck gold on Sir Bobby signing who's now worth as much as Guehi

Bobby Robson struck gold on a former Newcastle star

1 ByRoss Kilvington Sep 10, 2024

BCCI will retain hosting rights if move materialises; have until June 28 to decide their position

Nagraj Gollapudi01-Jun-2021The ICC is leaning towards moving the 2021 men’s T20 World Cup to the UAE, and have even shortlisted another venue in the Middle East – potentially Oman – as a co-host in case the tournament is moved out of India.ESPNcricinfo understands that on Tuesday the ICC Board granted the BCCI time until June 28 to decide whether or not they can host the event, after receiving a request from the Indian board president Sourav Ganguly. Internally, however, the ICC Board is understood to have concluded that it would be safer to host the tournament in the UAE, while allowing the BCCI to retain the hosting rights.”The ICC Board has requested management focus its planning efforts for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 on the event being staged in the UAE with the possibility of including another venue in the Middle East,” the ICC said in a media release on Tuesday. “A final decision on the host country will be taken later this month. The Board also confirmed that the BCCI will remain the hosts of the event regardless of where the event is played.”Related

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IPL postponed as Covid-19 count increases

On May 29, Ganguly told the BCCI members at a special general body meeting that the board would seek additional time to decide whether India was able to host the T20 World Cup.The biggest concern is the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic in India, which is currently battling a second wave. Health experts are predicting a third wave during the winter – the 16-team event is scheduled to be played between mid-October and November 14. Currently, India is only behind the USA on the list of countries with the highest number of infections.India also is on the red list of several countries which have barred all travel to and from the country. Recently, the BCCI was forced to postpone the eight-team IPL after a number of Covid-19 positive cases during the second leg of the tournament in Delhi and Ahmedabad.For the tournament, the BCCI had initially proposed nine venues. But an ICC team, meant to land in India in late April for an inspection tour of the venues, had to cancel their plans due to the second wave of the pandemic. Internally, the ICC’s teams have been nervous about the amount of travel that would be involved with multiple venues. Travel was identified as one potential point of exposure for teams during the IPL.The other concern for the BCCI, a longstanding one, concerns the tax waiver sought by the ICC from the Indian government to host the global tournament. Despite getting several extensions from the ICC over the past few years, the BCCI has still not been able to resolve the matter.There are significant sums at play in this. The BCCI would need to pay close to 43% tax to the Indian government from the estimated revenue it derives from hosting the event, a tax bill of nearly INR 900 crore (US $125 million). In the last two meetings with its members – the state associations – the BCCI got the nod to pay that tax as long as India could host the tournament.The BCCI has to give a final response to the ICC on the tax exemption by mid-June. With just under five months remaining to the T20 World Cup, the ICC is increasingly anxious especially because if the tournament were to be held in India and then suspended, they would have no window to complete the tournament.On Tuesday, some of the 16 directors attending the ICC Board meeting, are believed to have asked Ganguly how things in India would change in a month. Ganguly’s response was the Covid situation in India was getting better by the day. The majority of board members, ESPNcricinfo understands, were willing to approve shifting the World Cup on Tuesday itself, factoring in that the situation on the ground in India is not likely to dramatically change come the end of June.The BCCI is not unaware of this, which is why its top leadership was in Dubai on Monday to hold discussions with the Emirates Cricket Board and the local government about moving both the IPL and potentially the T20 World Cup to the UAE.In the case that both tournaments are hosted in the UAE a total of 76 matches would have to be played across a span of two months on three grounds. To mitigate the risk of the pitches at the main venues – Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah – getting weary, the ICC has earmarked another country – which could be Oman – to co-host.

New Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca is set to sit down with a £35 million member of his squad who the club are working to sell by next week, with another high-profile exit after Conor Gallagher beginning to take shape.

More Chelsea sales expected after Conor Gallagher

England international and Cobham academy graduate Gallagher has joined Atletico Madrid for around £38 million, with Chelsea agreeing to sell Gallagher after the player rejected two new contract offers.

"Hard to believe" – Sky pundit "surprised" by transfer news out of Chelsea

The Blues have been very busy this window.

ByEmilio Galantini Aug 8, 2024

Indeed, the 24-year-old had proposals to remain at Stamford Bridge, having been offered two-year deals with the option of an additional season – which would've put him in line with Chelsea's top midfield earners according to David Ornstein.

Considering Chelsea put pen to paper on a deal for Samu Omorodion, a relatively unproven young striker, and offered him a long-term seven-year contract (Fabrizio Romano), you can understand why Gallagher felt the club's attempts to keep him were below par.

Cole Palmer

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Moises Caicedo

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The move to sell him to Atletico has been met with fierce criticism from both supporters and critics alike, with World Cup winner and former Chelsea star Emmanuel Petit calling the transfer "very sad".

"They’ve put him under pressure. They gave him an ultimatum, which was sign the contract or we’ll sell you," said Petit.

"If I was Gallagher, I would be screaming with anger. He gave everything for the club and fought for the badge. He saw other players coming in who had achieved nothing getting better terms. I think it’s very sad and I feel sorry for the player."

Following one of Chelsea's most unpopular transfers since Todd Boehly and BlueCo's takeover in 2022, more players are expected to leave Stamford Bridge before deadline day.

Romelu Lukaku is still waiting to join Napoli after agreeing a three-year deal, which will have a direct effect on Chelsea's pursuit of Victor Osimhen. Meanwhile, two more strikers are expected to leave the club soon in David Datro Fofana and Armando Broja.

Fofana has agreed to make the move to Leicester City, while Broja's attracted interest from Juventus and other clubs.

Maresca set for crunch talks with Broja

Daily Mail journalist Kieran Gill has claimed that Broja is set for crunch talks with Maresca over his Chelsea future, with both Everton and Wolves believed to showcasing interest alongside Juve.

However, fellow reliable reporter Ben Jacobs says the club have already made a decision. It is believed Chelsea are working to find a buyer for Broja by next week, but it is unclear whether any side would come close to his reported £35 million asking price.

The 22-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan at Fulham, where he endured a difficult spell, and could barely get a look-in ahead of the in-form Rodrigo Muniz.

أعلن الاتحاد الدولي لكرة اليد عن تصنيف المنتخبات المشاركة في بطولة العالم للشباب مواليد 2004، والتي ستقام في بولندا خلال الفترة من 18 حتى 29 يونيو من العام الجاري.

ومن المقرر أن تُجرى قرعة البطولة في شهر فبراير المقبل، على أن تصل المنتخبات إلى بولندا قبل يوم 17 يونيو المقبل.

طالع.. “بعد الشكوى”.. تعديل مواعيد ومكان تدريبات منتخب مصر لليد في بطولة العالم

وقد تم تصنيف منتخب مصر في المستوى الثاني للقرعة، مع منتخبات: فرنسا، كرواتيا، مقدونيا، اليابان، تونس، المجر، وبولندا البلد المستضيف.

أما المستوى الأول فيضم منتخبات البرتغال، إسبانيا، الدنمارك، ألمانيا، السويد، النمسا، أيسلندا، والنرويج.

وفي المستوى الثالث يتواجد منتخبات الأرجنتين، صربيا، سلوفينيا، كوريا، رومانيا، الجزائر، المغرب، والبحرين.

وأخيرًا، يضم المستوى الرابع منتخبات السعودية، البرازيل، سويسرا، أمريكا، المكسيك، أوروجواي، نيوزيلندا، ومنتخب آخر لم يتحدد بعد.

ويقود منتخب مصر للشباب الجهاز الفني بقيادة مجدي أبو المجد مديرًا فنيًا، ومحمد عبد الرحمن المدرب العام، ومحيي صلاح مشرفًا على تدريب حراس المرمى، وعمرو محمد طبيبًا، وكريم صفوت مديرًا إداريًا، ومازن سمير مديرًا للمنتخب، كما يتولى طارق محروس الإشراف على منتخبات الشباب والناشئين.

MatériaMais Notícias

Depois de ser criticado por Vampeta, foi a vez de outro ex-jogador disparar contra Gabriel Barbosa. Com passagens porCorinthians, Porto, Fluminense, Vasco da Gama e Botafogo, o comentarista do SBT Carlos Alberto disse que Gabigol não é o ‘camisa 9 ideal para o Brasil’, e respondeu a polêmica frase do atacante sobre o futebol brasileiro ser uma várzea.

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– Não acho que o Gabriel seja o 9 ideal para o Brasil. Eu não gosto muito do comportamento dele, não sou ninguém pra julgar. Ele sai e chuta a garrafa, expõe o treinador, o companheiro e acho que ele jogando no Flamengo tem 6 chances por jogo, então pode perder 4. Se jogasse no São Paulo, só tem uma chance, quando tem… – afirmou Carlos Alberto no programa ‘Arena SBT’ de ontem.

-Outro dia ele falou que o futebol brasileiro é uma várzea, mas é aqui que ele sobrevive e na Europa ele não jogou – rebateu o ex-jogador.

Recentemente, Vampeta disse queo técnico do Brasil, Tite, convoca o atacante do Flamengo Gabigol apenas por “pressão popular”, mas, na realidade, o comandante não mantém carinho pelo centroavante.

-A informação é certeira: O Tite falou que ele é pior jogador com quem já trabalhou como pessoa. O Tite falou isso para a minha fonte – declarou Vampeta.

When the seamers were out of ideas, he stepped up to apply the finishing touches with his subtle variations

Deivarayan Muthu01-Jan-2021

The New Zealand players all wanted a piece of Mitchell Santner after he took the match-winning catch•Getty Images

Mitchell Santner’s Test future seemed uncertain at the start of 2020 when he was dropped following the Australia tour as part of a spin overhaul. However, he returned and ended the year with a crucial double-strike against Pakistan that capped a last-gasp win for New Zealand at Bay Oval. Santner’s red-ball future as a wicket-taking option isn’t certain yet, but he has done his bit to help push New Zealand towards the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord’s in 2021.For the most part of his second-innings spell in the first Test against Pakistan, Santner lacked control, straying with his lines and lengths. The left-handed Fawad Alam pulled and cut his way to 32 off 34 balls against Santner. The left-arm fingerspinner also sent down a dirty log-hop to Mohammad Rizwan, which was duly swatted to the midwicket boundary.Related

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Williamson goes past Smith and Kohli

However, when the pace quartet couldn’t quite find a way past a stubborn lower order, it was Santner who stepped up to apply the finishing touches with his subtle variations. After beating Mohammad Abbas with a delivery that gripped and turned past the outside edge, Santner pinned him lbw with a quicker arm ball.New Zealand’s premier seamers Trent Boult and Tim Southee then had a crack at Pakistan’s last pair in tandem for five overs, but Naeem Shah and Shaheen Afridi somehow held them off. Kane Williamson turned to Santner again, and on cue he had Shah scooping a return catch off a loopy delivery that stuck in the pitch.Watch cricket on ESPN+

New Zealand vs Pakistan is available in the US on ESPN+. Subscribe to ESPN+ and tune in to the series

“We remained patient throughout – even in the first innings,” Santner said at the post-match media conference. “So, you know, like Kane said, we believed if we get one, we could get a few. It was nice to see a couple turn at the end, and to just contribute to the effort was good as well. It obviously got a little bit closer. Kane said that the way two seamers got the breakthroughs got us back into the game, so it was nice to help out as well in the last couple of overs. I guess my role there was fire it into the wicket and hopefully one skid or one spin.”Santner also made an impact in the field when he nailed a direct hit from the deep to cut short Rizwan’s first innings at 71. A day after that dramatic finish, head coach Gary Stead was asked if Santner makes things happen for New Zealand.”Yeah, I think, if you look at defining moments in the match, the Mitchell Santner run-out in the first innings actually swung things back and gave us a chance to have a decent lead and then be able to leave something that we wanted to,” Stead said. “Mitch is a great fellow and he’s got a lot of skills and I guess he’s often someone people point to that he doesn’t necessarily get results in New Zealand, but New Zealand for spin bowlers is a tough, tough place to play in and he offers a lot to our team.”Sure, Santner has had poor outings across the Tasman Sea, but has been an unsung contributor to New Zealand’s dominance at home. New Zealand have been unbeaten in their last 16 Tests at home, and Santner has featured in six of those matches, scoring 282 runs at an average of 40.28 and picking up 10 wickets at an average of 29.30. The major highlight was his career-best 126 from No.7 and 3 for 53 against England, also at the Bay Oval in 2019.Ajaz Patel had previously been identified as a more attacking spin option after his success in the UAE and Sri Lanka, but the rapid rise of Kyle Jamieson has now shaken up the combination, with New Zealand leaning towards four frontline seamers and an allrounder. As for Patel, having suffered a calf injury, he has now been asked to prove his form and fitness in domestic cricket in order to work his way back into the national side.In the injury-enforced absence of Colin de Grandhomme, Daryl Mitchell got the nod against West Indies before Santner made his comeback against Pakistan on a Mount Maunganui pitch that wasn’t dissimilar from an Asian pitch, according to Azhar Ali.Santner sees himself fulfilling the allrounder’s role on such tracks, but also accepts that there may not be a place for him in the XI on greener pitches.”We’ve seen on surfaces that we’ve come across before [where] the four seamers have done a great job,” Santner said. “On slightly slower wickets like this [Mount Maunganui], there’s probably a place. But then, obviously the batting is important as well. We’re not sure what we’re going to get at Christchurch – probably not similar to the one out there. Probably a bit more green.”

Rangers have reportedly told a European side that they want to sign their £5m-rated “monster” for Philippe Clement this summer.

Clement and Koppen secure three signings for Rangers

The transfer window has only just officially opened, but that hasn’t stopped Clement and director of recruitment Nils Koppen in making a head start on the club’s summer business.

Already, those at Ibrox have secured moves for Jefte, Oscar Cortes and Clinton Nsiala and don’t appear to be planning on stopping there. Alongside the trio, Rangers are also leading the race to sign 20-year-old forward Yusuf Kabadayi from Bayern Munich in a permanent transfer and out-of-contract midfielder Connor Barron from Aberdeen.

Rangers plotting cut-price move to sign Euro 2024 forward ahead of Celtic

He was linked back in January.

ByCharlie Smith Jun 12, 2024

It is promising to be a busy few months for the Gers ahead of the 2024/25 Scottish Premiership campaign, where Clement will be hoping to lift as much silverware as possible in what will be his first full season in charge. To help him do that, Rangers appear to be keen on finally securing a deal for a player they were first linked with back in November.

Rangers tell club they want to sign £5m defender

According to journalist Anel Avdic, Rangers have been in contact with Hammarby IF over a deal for defender Nathaniel Adjei. The Gers are also joined by RSC Anderlecht, with Hammarby wanting €6m (£5m) to sell the player this summer.

“Glasgow Rangers and RSC Anderlecht have informed Hammarby IF that they want to buy Nathaniel Adjei. A first suggestion is to wait shortly. Bajen requires just over six million euros to sell the centre-back this summer.”

Adjei, an out-and-out centre-back, spent the second half of the recent campaign out on loan with French side FC Lorient, making 15 Ligue 1 appearances. He's also made 32 senior appearances for Hammarby.

The Ghana U23 international could now be on the move again, this time in a permanent transfer, with Rangers seemingly keen on his services. The 21-year-old’s Transfermarkt valuation currently stands at €2.5m, so Rangers will need to pay more than twice that amount to secure his services.

Should he move to Scotland, Clement could be getting an imposing 6ft 2 centre-back who Kai Watson, founder of the Rangers Journal, dubbed a “physical monster” when analysing the defender following rumours of a move to Ibrox last year.

Rangers currently have Connor Goldson, John Souttar, Ben Davies, Leon King and Leon Balogun as their centre-back options, so Adjei could be viewed on an upgrade on a few of the names mentioned, making this a deal to keep an eye on once more.

It looks set to be a busy summer of transfers for Arsenal this year, as after another Premier League season full of incredible performances, they fell just short of Manchester City.

The main area of interest seems to be the striker position, with players like Benjamin Sesko and Victor Osimhen being linked in recent weeks, but somewhere else Mikel Arteta may need to reinforce is left-back.

Oleksandr Zinchenko has been touted for a move away from the Emirates in recent days, and while it's never good to lose talented players, the latest star linked with a move to N5 might just be the perfect replacement.

Arsenal transfer news

According to a recent report from The Athletic, Arsenal have maintained their interest in Ajax's star defender, Jorrel Hato.

The Gunners' original interest was reported in January, and even though the youngster signed a new deal with the Amsterdam club in the meantime, they seem undeterred.

No potential price is reported in the story, but in November, journalist Suleyman Öztürk told Dutch website SoccerNews he expects the youngster to be sold for around €100m, which converts to around £85m.

While it would be an enormous sum of money, this might be a player worth breaking the bank for.

How Hato compares to Zinchenko

Now, when comparing these two players, there are a couple of things that should be taken into account. The first is that Hato is just 18 years old and the second is that he's primarily a centre-back who is versatile enough to thrive at left-back , for which data analyst Ben Mattinson lauds him as a "swiss-army knife."

That said, in spite of these two things, he stacks up incredibly well against Zinchenko, and actually already looks better in a number of ways, and the best way to see that is through their underlying numbers.

While the young Dutchman understandably comes out second best in metrics like progressive passes, progressive carries, and non-penalty expected goals and assists, he comes out way ahead in a number of others.

Hato vs Zinchenko
Stats per 90	Hato	Zinchenko
Non-Penalty Expected Goals + Assists	0.07	0.16
Progressive Passes	4.74	12.0
Progressive Carries	1.19	2.09
Passing Accuracy	91.9%	87.6%
Tackles	2.04	2.62
Blocks	1.52	0.94
Interceptions	1.37	1.05
Clearances	2.55	1.36
Errors Leading to a Shot	0.00	0.10
Ball Recoveries	5.74	5.45
Aerial Duels Won	2.31	1.41
All Stats via FBref for the 23/24 League campaign

For example, the "elite" youngster, as dubbed by Mattinson, makes more blocks, interceptions, clearances, and ball recoveries, makes fewer errors leading to a shot, wins more aerial duels, and actually has better passing accuracy, all per 90.

His offensive qualities may be lacking compared to the Arsenal full-back, but Arteta showed this season that he is happy with a more defensively-minded left-back in the side when he opted to play both Jakub Kiwior and Takehiro Tomiyasu in the role over the Ukrainian.

Ultimately, while Hato is still young and would likely cost an arm and a leg to sign, he could be the perfect player to replace Zinchenko, especially as talent scout Jacek Kulig has argued he has a "huge future ahead."

Arsenal could land Lacazette 2.0 in "monster" 1st signing

The incredible forward has shades of the Frenchman about him.

By
Jack Salveson Holmes

Jun 4, 2024

Mumbai taking a cautious approach with allrounder’s back after last year’s surgery

Vishal Dikshit27-Sep-2020

BCCI

Mumbai Indians are keen to get some overs out of their key allrounder Hardik Pandya but are taking a cautious approach with him after his back surgery last year. Zaheer Khan, Mumbai’s director of cricket operations, said on Sunday that Pandya is “very keen and really wanting to bowl,” but they also have to “listen to his body”.Pandya has not bowled so far in Mumbai’s two games – against the Chennai Super Kings and the Kolkata Knight Riders – and Khan didn’t specify when exactly the allrounder could be expected to bowl next.”We’re all expecting him to bowl and he’s someone who really changes the balance of any side when he’s bowling and understands that but we have to listen to his body and that’s a conversation we’ve been having in consultation with the physios,” Khan said while answering questions from the press.”We’re looking forward for him to bowl, he’s very keen and really wanting to bowl. We just have to wait and be patient and listen to his body. At the end of the day, any bowler’s injury plays a huge role. We’re happy he’s there as a batter and with full fitness contribution, so that’s the exciting part. Hopefully you’ll see him bowl soon.”Pandya underwent a back surgery in October last year in the UK after his lower back had been troubling him since the Test series in England in 2018. The surgery kept Pandya out of action for almost a year, last playing a T20I against South Africa at home in September 2019. After that he missed the Tests against the same opposition, the home series against Bangladesh and West Indies, a T20I series against Sri Lanka and ODIs against Australia at home, and the entire tour of New Zealand earlier this year.Pandya was a crucial player for Mumbai last IPL with both bat and ball: his strike rate of 191.42 for the 402 runs he scored in 15 innings and the 14 wickets he took in 42.3 overs helped his team lift a record fourth title. He plays the role of a key fifth or sixth bowler – interchangeably with his brother Krunal Pandya – which Mumbai used in the form of Kieron Pollard in their last game, against the Knight Riders earlier this week. It was a rare sight because Pollard last bowled in the IPL more than three years ago, in April 2017. Against the Super Kings in the first game, Mumbai used their regulation five bowlers while defending 162 and lost by five wickets.Speaking of Pandya’s bowling, Mumbai coach Mahela Jayawardene told host broadcaster Star Sports during the game against the Knight Riders that they would “gradually build him up”.”[It’s a] day-by-day progress, we don’t want to take a risk,” Jayawardene said on September 23. “He came back from operation. He looks healthy now so we’ll gradually build him up. We’ll see when he’s comfortable and then take a call.”

Arsenal have displayed a willingness to pay £52 million for one club's key player this summer, as sporting director Edu gets to work pre-summer.

Edu makes Arsenal transfer vow after sealing new Jorginho deal

This week, some important news emerged from north London, with midfielder Jorginho putting pen to paper on a new contract and extending his stay until 2025.

Arsenal now in talks with £52.8 million ace who's getting close to joining

Mikel Arteta could hijack Barcelona in the process.

ByEmilio Galantini May 9, 2024

The Italy international's deal was set to expire this summer, but manager Mikel Arteta and the club's board have seen fit to reward him with fresh terms following Jorginho's more pivotal role in the last few months.

The former Chelsea star has featured in 12 of Arsenal's last 16 Premier League matches, starting half of them and contributing effectively in Arteta's chase to hand the club a first title in 20 years.

Brighton 0-3 Arsenal

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Sheffield United 0-6 Arsenal

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Arsenal 5-0 Crystal Palace

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Arsenal 3-1 Liverpool

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Arsenal 4-1 Newcastle

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Arsenal are targeting a new midfielder to potentially replace Thomas Partey, but the pressure is somewhat eased by Jorginho's extension, as Arteta keeps his utility man in north London for another year.

After tying the 32-year-old down, Edu made a vow to "continue building to be better and stronger", with Standard Sport journalist Simon Collings also claiming they're targeting four major signings across the pitch in a goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward.

"We’re very happy to have Jorgi sign a contract extension with us. He represents what we stand for here at Arsenal with his professionalism and success." said Edu on Jorginho's new contract.

“I know everyone at the club will be very excited that Jorgi will continue to be with us, not only the players and coaches, but all the staff behind the scenes as well. It’s great that Jorginho remains with us, as we continue building to be better and stronger."

While Jorginho helps to shore up the numbers for next season, the plan to sign another star centre-midfielder to partner Declan Rice is still very much on. Arsenal have been heavily linked with Real Sociedad star Martin Zubimendi this week in that regard.

A report by COPE (via Sport) in the last few days stated that Arsenal are already in talks with Zubimendi as they leapfrog Barcelona in the race to sign him, and another update has now surfaced courtesy of Estadio Deportivo.

Arsenal show "willingness" to pay £52 million to sign Zubimendi

According to the Spanish news outlet, via Sport Witness, Arsenal have "shown their willingness to pay" £52 million for Zubimendi – which just so happens to be the full value of his release clause.

However, they're not alone in this stance, as Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich are in the same boat. Barcelona chief Deco has also met with the Spaniard's agent, so it appears Arteta's side still have stern competition.

Xavi is also a big fan of Zubimendi, having called him an "extraordinary pivot".