Premier League
AM IN ARSENAL TO WIN TROPHIES, SAYS MIKEL ARTETA
The era of trophy less run by Arsenal may be over if the words of new manager, Mikel Arteta are anything to go by.
The manager who was confirmed on the saddle on Friday has declared that Arsenal needed to be fighting for “top trophies” again.
He however appealed for patience after being confirmed as their new manager on a 31/2-year contract.
The former Arsenal midfielder joined from Manchester City, where he has been assisting Pep Guardiola since July 2016, but has never managed a club before.
“This is a huge honour,” he told the club website. “Arsenal is one of the biggest clubs in the world.
“We need to be competing for (silverware) and that’s been made very clear to me in my discussions with (owner) Stan and (son and non-executive director) Josh Kroenke, and the senior people from the club.
“We all know there is a lot of work to be done to achieve that, but I am confident we’ll do it.
“I’m realistic enough to know it won’t happen overnight, but the current squad has plenty of talent and there is a great pipeline of young players coming through from the academy.”
Arteta replaces Unai Emery, who was sacked last month, and takes the reins from caretaker boss Freddie Ljungberg. The compensation paid by Arsenal to City is understood to be around £1 million (S$1.77 million).
The Spaniard is only the fifth man with no previous managerial experience to take the full-time reins at a “Big Six” club in the Premier League era after Roy Evans, Ruud Gullit, Gianluca Vialli and Tim Sherwood. But the Gunners’ head of football, Raul Sanllehi, insisted that his compatriot was “the perfect person for us”.
“We met several top-class candidates and Mikel stood out to every single one of us,” he said. “Mikel understands Arsenal football club and what it means to our fans around the world.”
The 37-year-old Arteta was a leading candidate to take the hot seat 19 months ago but the club then opted for his compatriot Emery.
While he takes over a team 10th in the league with just two wins since early October and is facing a tough debut at Everton today, Guardiola has backed him to become his own man at the Emirates.
The City manager said yesterday: “He decided to move there. You cannot stop it, follow your dreams and Arsenal was a big part of his career. We wish him all the best, I’m pretty sure he will do a great job.”
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also claimed it was “important that he knew the DNA of the club”.
On Arteta’s appointment, he said yesterday: “If you’ve been here, especially in periods when the club’s done well, you see what the culture is. Build on what’s been going well.”
Pundit Graeme Souness, however, poured scorn on Arsenal for handing such a big job to a relative novice.
But the players appeared to welcome the news, despite reports that the squad had their reservations over his inexperience and wanted Carlo Ancelotti, who looks bound for Goodison Park instead.
Mesut Ozil was the first to congratulate former teammate Arteta. He tweeted: “Welcome back to the Arsenal family!”
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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