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BBC News
7 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Arteta 'the one' - Zubimendi on why he chose Arsenal
New Arsenal signing Martin Zubimendi says it "wasn't an easy time" for him last summer, as he tried to decide what was best for his future during a spell of intense transfer Spain midfielder finally completed a £60m move to Emirates Stadium from Real Sociedad earlier this month but acknowledged rumours about his future have been rumbling for 12 months."The first question I had to answer was whether I wanted to leave Real, and it wasn't the right time," he explained. "I felt that Real offered me more opportunities and that I still had a lot to learn, so staying at Real was the best decision for me."Zubimendi and Arteta hit it off after speaking on the phone and the Spain international says the Arsenal manager's "obsession" with "details" is one of the reasons he wanted to join the club."I don't know what he saw in me, but I saw him as one of the top coaches in Europe. he explained. "At the end of the day, I wanted a quality coach when I left Real Sociedad."I think I've found him. In the few days I've been here, I've seen how meticulous he is about every aspect of the game, so I think he's the one."Zubimendi also says he is learning "a lot" from his new boss."I think I'm going to try to do things I didn't do before," he said. "Playing in that position, I'll try to bring balance and provide that passing outlet that I'm known for."Beyond that, I'm sure he'll ask me to do new things."The midfielder is a statement signing for the Gunners and it is hoped he can be the catalyst to help the club to begin a new era of winning trophies after coming so close in recent seasons."I hope so," said Zubimendi. "The most important thing about this club is that they learn from previous seasons."I think the lessons they've learned from how last season ended will be key to getting even closer to this year's targets."Ultimately, I believe that football comes down to details, especially in the Champions League."In that semi-final, Arsenal were the only team in that semi-final who truly stood up to PSG [Paris St-Germain], and they let it slip because of minor details."Read more from Zubimendi here
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Arsenal 3-0 Real Madrid: Match review
Real Madrid suffered an embarrassing 3-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final bout on Tuesday. The Whites were undone by a 17-minute goal blitz by the Gunners in the latter half as two fantastic free-kicks from Declan Rice and an immaculate finish from Mikel Merino condemned them to their second loss in a row. The hosts made a strong start to the game and were perhaps unlucky to not lead within the first 15 minutes after William Saliba blocked his own teammate, Thomas Partey's header on the goal line. The Merengues gained a bit of control thereafter and had a couple of decent chances through Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe which were not taken effectively, particularly the Frenchman's in a one-on-one situation versus David Raya. Advertisement After the half-hour mark, the tide swung in Arsenal's favour once again and Thibaut Courtois was called into action before half time. The Belgian made a sensational double save to keep Rice and Gabriel Martinelli out from close range and ensure that the Whites went into the break on level terms. In the second 45, however, there was a major gulf in quality between the two sides. Mikel Arteta's men were outclassing Carlo Ancelotti's side in every possible department and simply showed better desire and intensity. Their hunger eventually paid off with Rice's beautiful free-kick, the first such goal of his career. It was Arsenal's game following the opener and they would go on to add to their tally but not before Courtois produced yet another moment of genius with a triple save. Rice needed only 12 minutes to add to his tally from another set-piece situation, which all but guaranteed him the Man-of-the-Match award on the minute. Five minutes afterwards, Merino got himself on the scoresheet. Arsenal's makeshift striker was found in the box by Myles Lewis-Skelly and the Spaniard unleashed a first-time finish into the bottom corner past Courtois to compound Madrid's misery. A night to forget for the visitors was rounded off with Eduardo Camavinga receiving a second yellow card and consequent red for kicking the ball away in frustration in stoppage time after the referee called a foul against Real Madrid. The Emirates was understandably ecstatic as the full time whistle went a couple of minutes later while the defending European champions suffered their 11th defeat of the season in all competitions. Advertisement The result puts further pressure on Carlo Ancelotti, whose job has been precarious in the last few months owing to the team losing ground on Barcelona in the title race in La Liga. The Italian undoubtedly must shoulder the blame for the team's collective failure for his one-dimensional tactics after being outclassed once again and a failure in nourishing the team's fringe players, who would have been vital in such games off the bench. Against a quality Arsenal side, Real Madrid will have barely any chances of coming back in next week's second leg at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu and in fairness, barring yet another miracle in the Spanish capital, their fate in the European Cup might be all but sealed. Their upcoming game this weekend is against Deportivo Alaves in La Liga as they hope to get back to winning ways, desperately so.
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Viktor Gyokeres sent Sporting fan message as Arsenal aim to finalise transfer
Sporting fans have made their feelings on Viktor Gyokeres crystal clear as his transfer to Arsenal beckons. The Swedish striker is closing in on a high-profile summer switch to the Emirates Stadium worth an initial €63.5million (£54.86m) plus a further €10m (£8.64m) in add-ons after agent Hasan Cetinkaya reportedly waived his entire fee in a bid to help get a protracted deal over the line. Though there reportedly remains a debate ongoing over the nature and structure of the bonuses included, Mikel Arteta was hoping to have Gyokeres signed in time for Saturday's departure for their pre-season tour of Asia, along with Chelsea winger Noni Madueke and Valencia centre-back Cristhian Mosquera. Such a move would see a long-running end to two sagas, specifically Arsenal's prolonged hunt for a new striker and Gyokeres' bitter stand-off with Sporting which has played out in the media over recent months. The former Coventry frontman has not reported for pre-season training amid those talks with Arsenal, with whom he has already agreed a five-year contract, apparently furious that a gentleman's agreement for him to be allowed to leave for a fee of €60m (£50.8m) plus €10m (£8.4m) in add-ons this summer was not honoured by the club. The existence of such an agreement has been publicly denied by Sporting president Frederico Varandas, who insisted no such promise was ever made. Gyokeres has been sensational for Sporting since joining from Championship side Coventry for £20m two summers ago, scoring 97 goals and providing 28 assists in just 102 appearances across all competitions, including 54 in 52 games last term - the most of any player in Europe's top 10 leagues. His goals have helped fire Sporting to back-to-back Primeira Liga titles and last season's League/Portuguese Cup double, though his popularity among supporters looks to now have taken a sizable hit amid his feud with the club and impending move to Arsenal. Fans sent the striker messages in the form of banners during Sporting's 2-0 defeat by Celtic in a pre-season friendly held at the Estadio Algarve on Wednesday evening. One read, per Record and Sport Witness: 'I don't cry for those who leave, I'm happy for those who stay. Lions of our youth academy.' Another read: 'No one is above the interests of the club, whoever they may be.'
The Sun
18-07-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
Arsenal install new feature at the Emirates as first picture emerges but fans ask ‘will it win us the league?'
ARSENAL have installed electronic boards on the lower tier of the Emirates Stadium as the club continue to make improvements to the ground. The Gunners have been gradually making changes to the Emirates over the past few seasons in a bid to modernize the stadium, which was opened in 2006. 3 3 Photos circulating on social media show that the advertising boards that previously wrapped around the top of the lower tier have now been replaced by digital screens. The change follows minor improvements in recent seasons such as the addition of new big screens in the stadium's top corner, automated self-service beer queues and the new external artwork on the ground. While Arsenal fans will also be able to sip on a new pint next season after the club announced a partnership with Japanese beer company Asahi, replacing their previous deal with London-based Camden Brewery. Fans are excited by the new changes that could proceed future ambition to extend the emirates and increase its 60,000-seat capacity. Although some supporters are growing impatient with the Gunners focusing on improvements to the matchday experience and would rather see improvements to their results on the pitch. On social media, one fumed: "Will it win us the league?" While another added: "Will it prevent another trophy-less season? Nah". Champions League next season. 3 Mikel Arteta has added Kepa Arrizabalaga, Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard to his squad already. While an announcement for the £52m arrival of Noni Madueke from Chelsea is expected soon. Man Utd vs Arsenal fan battle: 'Odegaard's streets ahead of bottle job Fernandes' | Stoppage Time Arteta's transfer team are also in the final stages of negotiating a move to sign Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting Lisbon in a deal worth an initial £55m. Valencia centre-back Cristhian Mosquera is also set to join the North London outfit for less than £20m as their summer spending spree continues. Arsenal are trying to get their business done early so they can get their new faces bedded in during their pre-season preparations ahead of a tricky start to the season. The Gunners' opening Premier League clash comes away at Manchester United as Liverpool, Man City and Newcastle also await Arteta's men in their first six games of the season.
The Guardian
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Cole Palmer conquers the world with a ‘so what' shrug
Not far from Football Daily Towers, nestled away on a quiet London street just around the corner from both the old Highbury and the new-ish Emirates Stadium, there once stood an Irish pub. It was a good one, named the Auld Triangle. It wasn't a 'beautiful' place by any traditional yardstick, but still had original wood panelling dating back to its Victorian inception. It wasn't particularly busy, apart from Arsenal matchdays, but its steady flow of regulars and opportunists convinced by its pretty exterior to step inside still created an atmosphere. It didn't do food, but a friendly, monosyllabic man behind the bar would allow you to bring whatever takeaway grub you wanted into the pub, so long as you were drinking his fare. As recently as 2021, the Auld Triangle had Sky Sports, BT Sports, screen dedicated to GAA and horse racing, daily newspapers splayed out over a table in the corner and as recently as 2021, sold pints for less than a fiver. It never shouted, never made any TimeOut lists or went viral but it was, in many ways, the perfect pub and a 10/10 experience on almost every occasion. The Auld Triangle is now a trendy gastropub named the Plimsoll. Admittedly, it is a very good gastropub, with those smoky interiors still intact. The smash burger there, 'The Dexter', is famous and means the place has been reviewed by almost everyone worth their salt, including Big Website and Grace Dent, who gave it an excellent write up. The Plimsoll is achingly hip but the thing is – and Dent and co won't know this – it is definitely an inferior place to the Auld Triangle, with Guinness that takes an age to fetch from the busy and understaffed bar, full of patrons who are absolutely desperate to split the G. The point to this indulgent and rather overwritten intro is that things don't have to be showy to be the best. Cole Palmer is the embodiment of that, somehow both elite and low-key, the sort of man who looks like he came into this world shrugging his shoulders, as if to say, 'so what'. There is no image or branding just an understated man who is both an awkward customer and one of the best footballers on the planet. Prior to his match-winning two goals and one assist against PSG, Palmer started the Copa Gianni final weekend by solo scooting through New York City in a hoodie, trying to keep a low-profile in rolling through a packed Times Square like he was still a teenager on Wythenshawe high street and, after putting in another player-of-the-match performance against PSG, finished the weekend by attempting to elbow the president of the USA USA USA out of the way during Chelsea's trophy presentation. In a moment of unassuming comic timing, Palmer appears to mouth 'What's he doing?!' as Donald Trump refuses to get off the stage, obscuring Palmer from view as Reece James hoists the trophy aloft. 'I was a bit confused, yeah,' sighed Palmer afterwards. Low-key off the pitch, then, and low profile on it, as PSG consistently struggled to identify just where Palmer had got to during the final. Against a team famous for their pressing, Palmer found space time and again, and was typically modest in crediting Enzo Maresca for Chelsea's success. 'The gaffer put a great gameplan out,' Palmer said. 'He knew where the space was going to be. He tried to free me up as much as possible and I just had to repay him and score some goals.' Two identical no-fuss finishes put Chelsea 2-0 up, with Palmer beating the best goalkeeper in the world, Gianluigi Donnarumma, with a side-footed finish from 20 yards like it was the easiest thing in the world. No stepovers, no flicks, no tricks. And so, at a football tournament that felt very much like an expensive gastropub, here's to Cole Palmer, here's to understatement. Football Daily is sure he would have loved the stripped-back, world-class basics of the Auld Triangle, not making smalltalk with the man behind the bar, eating his Chinese takeaway and Chippy Chips with his reasonably priced drink. What was presented as a global celebration of football was nothing more than a fiction created by Fifa, promoted by its president, without dialogue, sensitivity, and respect for those who sustain the game with their daily efforts. A grandiloquent staging inevitably reminiscent of the 'bread and circuses' of Nero's Rome, entertainment for the masses while behind the scenes inequality, precariousness, and the lack of protection for the true protagonists deepen' – Fifpro president, Sergio Marchi, sharpens his studs and takes a two-footed leap at Gianni Infantino. I read Arsène Wenger's comments about the Club World Cup with a mixture of laughter and increasing incredulity. As a Spurs fan of 78 years and counting I was well accustomed to his poor eyesight at red card incidents and your quoted 'dubious decisions' but this latest effort takes the biscuit. To think that he is trousering a considerable amount of money as Fifa's so called director of world football development merely confirms my opinion of the [snip]show that is Fifa' – Stewart McGuinness. Well I, for one, am glad of the Copa Gianni. I have managed to prove to myself (if no one else) that I am not obsessed with football and there are some tournaments even I would not stoop to watch' – Alex Folkes. Looked at for friendlies on Saturday. There are THREE HUNDRED of them. That's 600 different teams named on the list, mostly European. Amazing!' – Jim Geissman. 'At the same time, there is now a penumbra of leagues outside the elite'. Penumbra! Never change Jonathan Wilson, never change …' Noble Francis. Send letters to Today's prizeless letter o' the day winner is … Stewart McGuinness. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here. Listen up! The Football Weekly pod squad try to make sense of Chelsea being champions of the world. It's approaching 15 years since Andy Carroll was the meat in a Fernando-Torres-to-Chelsea sandwich, Liverpool paying Newcastle £35m for a young striker who played like the wild man he looked. Knack stopped us seeing the very best of a player unplayable on his day, but Carroll's love for the game is undimmed at 36. Previously at Bordeaux, now in France's minor leagues, Big Andy is back in the east London heartlands he graced with West Ham at Dagenham and Redbridge of the National League North. 'Coming here and showing people I am just playing for the love of football rather than the money and the level is something I wanted to do,' cooed Wor Andy, who retains the hirsute look of a Game of Thrones berserker. Perhaps not inconsequentially, the Daggers, a club whose long-running shirt sponsor has been the local undertaker, also announced a deal to sell the club to a consortium of private investors from Qatar. England will face Sweden in the quarter-finals of Euro 2025 after a rampant 6-1 win over Wales in their final Group D game. Meanwhile, France topped the group after thrashing the Netherlands 5-2. There were touching tributes for Diogo Jota before, during and after Liverpool's 2-1 friendly win over Preston on Sunday. Donald Trump was everywhere at the Copa Gianni. And so was the sound of booing. Arsenal have agreed a deal with Sporting for Viktor Gyökeres, who can do a decent impression of a vampire. Pep Guardiola was bundled into a picture by the Gallagher brothers' children before Friday night's Oasis gig at Heaton Park. Pep's side eyes seem to be saying a lot. And former Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher has been named as the lead coach of the club's under-18s side. He would have been in charge of his twin sons, Tyler and Jack, but they have recently graduated to the under-21s. Spain reign but France and England impress too – the Euro 2025 power rankings are back. Suzanne Wrack reckons England look serious contenders now that Ella is calling the Toone again. Our exclusive columnist Emma Hayes sets out the dos and don'ts of tournament life. Jonathan Wilson believes Luka Modric's move to Milan two months before his 40th birthday reaffirms Serie A's undisputed status as home of the gifted senior citizen. Steve Parish is plotting Palace's response to the great Uefa travesty, Scooter-loving Cole Palmer's casually jaw-dropping Copa Gianni final show has va va voomed him into the big time, according to Jacob Steinberg. Don't forget to check out our all-singing Euro 2025 player interactive or the Spain-heavy top scorers page. And catch up on all the transfers that have happened across men's and women's football in the summer window. 1968: Howzat!? George Best plays cricket with children in Chorlton, where he was living early in his Manchester United career.
