Arsenal complete second summer signing, player pens 3-year contract

According to RMC Sport, Arsenal have completed the signing of Yacine Adli from Paris Saint-Germain after the highly-rated midfielder signed an initial three-year contract at the Emirates.

Reports last week claimed Arsenal were in pole position to sign the 17-year-old after new head coach Unai Emery persuaded the youngster to join him in north London.

Emery knows Adli well from his time at PSG and gave the teenager his senior debut with a substitute appearance during a draw with Caen towards the end of last season.

It seems the deal is now complete as French outlet RMC Sportclaims Adli is now an Arsenal player after signing a three-year contract with the option to extend by a further two-years.

There has been no official word from Arsenal as yet but if true, this is a major coup as Adli is considered to be one of the most highly-rated young attackers in France.

PSG were desperate to tie him down to a professional contract after he developed through their youth system and they reportedly offered him a lucrative deal to remain at the club.

However, Adli has decided to accept a lesser contract from Arsenal as he is keen to follow Emery to London – although RMC Sport says Arsenal have been in contact with the youngster even before Emery’s arrival as manager.

We’re due to pay PSG around £200,000 in compensation and Adli becomes our second signing of the summer after we announced the signing of Stephan Lichtsteiner from Juventus on a free transfer.

Adli is an attacking midfielder who’s known for his superb technical ability and is comfortable with the ball at his feet so he’s destined to be a top player in the future.

I doubt he’ll be a first team regular next season but we should see him feature in the cups and I’m excited to see how he develops under Emery at the Emirates.

Here’s a video of Adli, check him out:

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Arsenal: Why would Ousmane Dembele want to come?

Ousmane Dembele is being increasingly linked with a move to Arsenal. As I think about the possibility, there is one question that I cannot answer: Why would he want to come to the Emirates?

I wrote previously that the Ousmane Dembele rumours would constitute the summer saga that will run and run throughout the coming weeks and months. It seems to me that that is now coming to fruition, with Arsenal again strongly linked with a move for a player that seems beyond their pay grade, literally and figuratively.

Catch the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal podcast right here

This time, however, the reports are focusing on Unai Emery, suggesting that it is the new manager who is pushing for Dembele, keen to make him the marquee signing of his first summer in north London. That’s fair enough considering he, I am sure, will be keen to make a strong early impression.

Barcelona are happy to allow Dembele for the right price, or loan agreements, after a frustrating first season marred by injury; Arsenal are somewhat interested, though questions of budget must be answered; the motivation behind any deal rests on Antoine Griezmann, who is reportedly on his way to the Catalan club if funds can be raised and room made by the Dembele departure.

Such logic makes a transfer quite possible. Certainly, all the steps are in place for this to rumble on throughout the summer. But there is one issue that I cannot quite resolve in my mind, that is the motivations of Dembele himself. Firstly, why would he want to leave Barcelona at all? And secondly, even if he did want to leave Barcelona, why would, of all the possible teams that he could choose, and he certainly would be able to choose given his talent, would he pick Arsenal?

I can only really think of one possible answer, even then it is a somewhat tenuous one. There is no way that Dembele is coming to the Emirates for a higher pay packet, for a more competitive team, for a step-up in quality and competition, and all without the allure of the Champions League.

There is some logic in Dembele believing that Emery is the manager who can develop his game the most. Neymar has always raved about his former manager as PSG, for instance, a player similar in style and stature to Dembele. Perhaps the Frenchman sees that relationship, even if it was a fractious one between Neymar and his teammates, and hopes for a similar occurrence in north London.The only reason I can think of is a long-term one: the development of his career, under the tutelage of Emery and former Borussia Dortmund Chief Scout Sven Mislintat who brought him into the limelight in the first place, which is currently being stented by a lack of opportunity and perhaps also investment in a high-performing Barca team that revolves around Lionel Messi and now, potentially, Griezmann.

That is the only reason I can think why Dembele would join, especially over the other options that I am sure he is receiving, the most prominent of which at this point is Liverpool. And even then, I am not sure it is enough to believe that this rumour has any legs.

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Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere reportedly set to join Crystal Palace

Fitness struggles

Wilshere’s injury troubles over the course of his career have been widely covered in the press, with a string of lengthy spells on the sidelines having held the technically-gifted star back from a potentially top-class career.

Following a nightmare campaign during which he managed just 3 Premier League appearances for the Gunners in 2015/16, Wilshere was sent out on loan to Bournemouth last season.

He managed a respectable 27 league outings with the Cherries, but a hairline crack in his calfbone in April ruled the marauding midfielder out until August.

Return to form

Despite being heavily linked with a move away from the Emirates last summer, Wilshere surprisingly remained in North London, with his impressive early-season performances in the Carabao Cup and Europa League having led to a Premier League recall for the Englishman.

On the move?

But, as per the latest reports spreading across social media this afternoon, it is now surprisingly being claimed that Wilshere is in fact inching towards a move to Selhurst Park to link up with Crystal Palace.

The story, which first came to light this morning through a Polish Crystal Palace fan site, revealed that an individual who works at the training base in Malmo where the Eagles are due to travel next month was informed that Wilshere would be part of Roy Hodgson’s travelling squad.

The news has since led to a number of other sources insisting that Wilshere is indeed set to depart Arsenal imminently, with the English midfielder’s odds of joining Palace having dropped from 25/1 to just 4/1 with SkyBet over the last couple of hours.

Roy Hodgson is known to be a huge admirer of the talents of Wilshere, with the 26-year-old having also been heavily linked with a move to Selhurst Park last summer.

And, though this afternoon’s news is far from an official confirmation of his departure from the Emirates, growing sections of Arsenal’s fans are now in agreement that they have likely seen Wilshere line out in a Gunners’ jersey for the final time.

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Arsenal have opened talks with Barcelona over Ousmane Dembele,

Arsenal have opened talks with Barcelona over Ousmane Dembele, according to reports in Spain.

Gunners head of recruitment Sven Mislintat has sat down with representatives of the player to try and thrash out a deal.

Spanish outlet Sport claim Mislintat has stayed in contact with Dembele from the time they were together at Borussia Dortmund.

The 21-year-old made just 12 starts in La Liga for Barcelona this season following a blockbuster £97m transfer from Dortmund last summer.

Dembele has struggled for game time following the arrival of Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool.

Liverpool are beating Arsenal in the race to sign Monaco ace Thomas Lemar, according to the bookies.

BetStars Director of Trading Ian Marmion said: “Monaco star Thomas Lemar has emerged as one of Europe’s brightest young talents and the Frenchman is expected to be in high demand following this summer’s World Cup.

“Liverpool were within touching distance of completing a move for the 22-year-old back in January and the Reds are the outright favourites at 6/4 to get their hands on the Monaco star this time around.

“Arsenal are next in the running at 4/1 to finalise a deal for the highly-rated youngster who they were supposedly touting in January as a potential replacement for the outgoing Alexis Sanchez.

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Arsenal to bid £60m for Bayern Munich midfielder Corentin Tolisso?

Bayern Munich midfielder Corentin Tolisso has reportedly emerged as a possible transfer target for Arsenal.

Last month, it was suggested that new Gunners boss Unai Emery would be given as much as £70m to spend in the summer window but it appears that the Spaniard is ready to use a large chunk of that to make a major addition.

According to CalcioInsider, Emery wants to sign Tolisso and is willing to part ways with £60m to bring the Frenchman to the Emirates Stadium.

The 23-year-old has just completed his first campaign at the Allianz Arena, with nine goals and six assists coming from 34 outings in the Bundesliga and Champions League.

However, while reports have suggested that a number of star men could leave Bayern this summer, the German giants are said to be unwilling to sanction the sale of Tolisso for any price.

The former Lyon player still has four years remaining on his contract.

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