Arsenal are sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League, with a five point advantage over closest challengers Manchester City.
The defending champions are in turmoil after Monday’s revelation that they had been charged with more than 100 alleged breaches of Premier League rules.
The Gunners have been warned that that crisis could light a fire in the belly of City players.
That warning comes as a former scout revealed the reasons behind Arsenal’s failure to sign Jude Bellingham and Brighton captain Lewis Dunk dealt a blow to their chances of signing Moises Caicedo.
Here, Mirror Football rounds up the latest Arsenal news.
Arsenal have been warned that the crisis hitting Manchester City could spark a renewed title fight.
City are five points behind the Gunners but club legend Martin Keown fears that Pep Guardiola’s men could be given fresh motivation by the charges.
“I’m pretty certain this will only galvanise the City players. This can be used as fuel to get back to the top of the Premier League table,” Keown told talkSPORT. “There’s a feeling that the world is against them now, the ramifications are huge. These players will want to hit back, they’ll use this as energy. They’ll have the best lawyers in the world against this and they’ll want to get the truth out.”
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A former Arsenal scout has admitted the Gunners weighed up moving for Jude Bellingham in 2020.
Francis Cagigao was part of the Premier League giants‘ recruitment team and recommended signing Bellingham.
At the time, the midfielder was featuring for Championship side Birmingham City, and Cagigao has revealed that the Gunners were forced to pull out due to the fee it would take to bring him to the Emirates.
“I saw him for the first time when he was 16 years old,” Cagigao told AS of Bellingham.
“I wanted to sign him for Arsenal, but he was already too expensive. He is very good.”
Brighton skipper Lewis Dunk has dealt a blow to Arsenal’s hopes of signing Moises Caicedo by insisting the midfielder has been welcomed back with open arms.
Caicedo, 21, was told to stay away from the Seagulls as the Gunners launched a late January move for him, but he has since returned to training.
“Obviously, it was a difficult situation for him [Caicedo] and these things happen in football. It’s not the first and won’t be the last time players at a football club have this going on over their head,” Dunk told talkSPORT. “He’s a young boy and we stick with him. He’s a great lad and obviously a fantastic player. Who knows how long we’ll have him for and we’re grateful to have him for at least the rest of the season and hopefully for longer.”