The action is coming fast and furious as Arsenal will be taking on Liverpool tomorrow night at Anfield in league play, and then again four days later in the Carabao Cup.
Along the way we still have plenty of transfer talk to do, as the summer window shuts in just nine days. We start with the latest on the pursuit of a very long term target, Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar.
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With reports circulating that Arsenal may be nearing a deal for the French playmaker, Lyon President Jean-Michael Aulas posted on social media that his 22-year-old sensation is actually staying put. His claims, corroborated by reports in several outlets, is that the two sides are just too far apart on price to get a deal done.
“There will be very few departures,” Aulas tweeted.
“Arsenal are too far away from Houssem’s value. We are counting on him to perform against Lorient and guide Lyon into the Champions League next season.”
Transferts : Houssem Aouar (OL) d'accord avec Arsenal – ?@OL? ?:il y aura très peu de départs: pour Houssem Arsenal est bcp trop éloigné de sa valeur: on compte sur lui pour faire un grand match à Lorient et mener l’OL en CL l’année prochaine ? https://t.co/8SUKIHLcLJ
— Jean-Michel AULAS (@JM_Aulas) September 26, 2020
Next we move on to Chelsea midfielder Jorginho, who could be moving across town. This is another deal that doesn’t seem likely to happen, because it would be contingent on Chelsea first signing Declan Rice, a player they have long coveted, from West Ham United.
That deal doesn’t seem likely either, so that could also diminish the prospects of a Jorginho switch getting over the line. The Daily Mirror reports Arsenal’s interest in the midfield man who came to Chelsea with Maurizio Sarri from Napoli.
Arsenal are watching developments closely as Mikel Arteta is desperate to strengthen his midfield and Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Partey and Lyon star Houssem Aouar remain his priority targets but has been struggling to get deals done.
The article also mentions Aouar, reporting that the situation there is a dead lock. All in all, it doesn’t really look likely that any of these deals are going to get closed before deadline day.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.