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Matthijs de Ligt was recently mentioned as a name on Arsenal’s list, and of course he’s a top player, but I’m told nothing will happen in January. He’s currently injured, though the injury is not serious and he should be back in 7-10 days, so it’s nothing to do with that.
Still, there’s nothing happening for now. In the summer, everything can change and many English clubs are keeping close eye to the situation so let’s see what happens there but I don’t have concrete updates on Arsenal or any other club as it’s not something to be decided now.
Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite has also been linked with the Gunners, but my understanding is that we’re just seeing normal scouting from many clubs, again with nothing concrete at this stage. In my opinion he’s very good player, probably underrated; but it’s also fair to say that Everton want to keep him and maybe a sale could be considered in the summer transfer window.
We’re hearing more stories about Viktor Gyokeres, and it’s not too surprising after his impressive record of 20 goals and 10 assists in all competitions for Sporting Lisbon this season. He joined Sporting from Coventry City and is now doing fantastic in Portugal, with many clubs interested in him.
Yesterday one of the biggest papers in Portugal, on their front page, had reports of an €80m bid from Chelsea with add-ons for Gyokeres, but I’m able to tell you that Chelsea have never sent a proposal for this player, in fact they’ve never even contacted Sporting about him.
Many important clubs around Europe are scouting Gyokeres, but it’s for a potential summer move as he’s not expected to leave Sporting in January – the plan was always to continue in Lisbon and to remain focused on this season, and then in the summer transfer window we’ll see what happens.
For now, Gyokeres is not leaving the club, and also there is a release clause of…
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