Mikel Arteta may be confident that his side can still recruit any player in the world, but Arsenal may have to wait if they are to sign Dusan Vlahovic from Fiorentina.
The in-demand Serbia international is the joint-fourth highest scorer in Europe's top five leagues this term and is wanted by an array of clubs across the continent.
While a January move has been touted, however, Fiorentina appear to be playing hardball when it comes to the future of the 21-year-old striker.
TOP STORY – FIORENTINA DEMANDS PREVENTING ARSENAL'S VLAHOVIC PURSUIT
Arsenal are reportedly willing to match Fiorentina's €75million (£62.62m) asking price for Vlahovic, which would make him the second-most expensive player in their history.
However, The Independent reports that the Serie A side want the majority of that money paid upfront, whereas Arsenal intend to spread the cost over the next four years.
The Gunners may therefore have to wait until the end of the campaign, at which point Vlahovic will have a year to run on his contract, before renegotiating with Fiorentina.
ROUND-UP
– It is shaping up to be a busy conclusion to the January window for Arsenal as Goal reports that the Premier League side have made contact with Juventus over a loan move for midfielder Arthur Melo, while Leicester City's Youri Tielemans is another potential target.
– L'Equipe claims that Paul Pogba remains a target for Paris Saint-Germain as he nears the end of his Manchester United contract. The midfielder has not featured since November due to injury and is not expected to return until next month.
– According to The Mail, Man Utd are eyeing a move for Brighton and Hove Albion's Tariq Lamptey as an upgrade on Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Diogo Dalot. Interim boss Ralf Rangnick is said to be a big fan of the right-sided player's versatility.
– Sticking with Rangnick and United, the German coach has put Ajax boss Erik ten Hag's name forward as the best option to replace him when his interim spell at Old Trafford ends in June. That is according to Le Parisien, with the French outlet also suggesting PSG's Mauricio Pochettino still remains in the frame.
– Ambitious Newcastle United have already brought in Kieran Trippier this month and more players look set to follow. Tuttomercato suggests that Roma's Chris Smalling could be lured to St James' Park as the Magpies desperately attempt to strengthen at centre-back.
– Freiburg's Nico Schlotterbeck is attracting plenty of interest this month, with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid among those being linked. Bayern appear to be leading that particular race if reports from Spain are anything to go by, with the defender supposedly keen to stay in the Bundesliga.
Crisis? Not for us – Erik ten Hag can see Man Utd progress after Chelsea win
Erik ten Hag dismissed any talk of Manchester United’s season being in crisis as he stressed “we are going in the right direction” following the 2-1 win over Chelsea.
United went into the contest at Old Trafford on the back of Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Newcastle, their 10th defeat in all competitions this term.
After Bruno Fernandes saw an early penalty saved by Robert Sanchez, a Scott McTominay brace, either side of Cole Palmer’s equaliser, secured United a victory that took them up to sixth in the Premier League table, three points behind fourth-placed defending champions Manchester City.
When asked at his post-match press conference what that said to him about a season that has felt like it has been in crisis, United boss Ten Hag said: “Crisis? Not for us.
“We keep calm, look at the process where we know where we have to build. We are going in the right direction.
“We don’t get distracted (by) criticism around us, but we are very critical on ourselves. We are not quickly satisfied and happy, we always want to do better. We have to improve a lot if we want to be successful – but this team is capable of being successful.”
There had been some reports ahead of the game that Ten Hag had lost the confidence of some of his players.
That led to United banning four media outlets for Tuesday’s pre-match press conference, with the club saying the action was taken for not “contacting us first to give us the opportunity to comment, challenge or contextualise.”
Ten Hag added: “Last week we played three games (a 3-0 win at Everton, 3-3 draw at Galatasaray and the Newcastle match). Two times we played good, and then one bad performance.
“But you see this team is in a good direction. I know sometimes you have a bad performance, but then still, you can get a result. That is the next step we have to make.
“But you see how we play, the style, so dominating the opponent, in and out of possession. That is the way I want to play. I was very pleased, it was very enjoyable how the team played.”
Roy Hodgson sends message to unhappy Crystal Palace fans after Bournemouth loss
Roy Hodgson pleaded for Crystal Palace supporters to stay onside after a 2-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth ended in a chorus of boos and an object being launched by a disgruntled fan in the boss’ direction.
Headers in each half from Marcos Senesi and Kieffer Moore extended the Cherries’ unbeaten Premier League run to four matches, while Palace remain in search of just their second home victory this season after a promising start to the campaign.
Palace, who dropped to 14th place with the loss, were hoping to pick up points ahead of a difficult run of fixtures, beginning with Liverpool on Saturday followed by a trip to Manchester City before meetings with Brighton and Chelsea.
Hodgson said he was unaware of being targeted by the projectile until after the fact, joking: “So you mean to say there was a fan out there who doesn’t like me? That will definitely stop me sleeping.”
The boyhood Palace fan also addressed earlier comments made to broadcaster Amazon Prime Video, in which he had suggested Eagles supporters might be “spoiled” by positive results in recent years.
He explained: “The fact is if I said that in the spur of the moment, to some extent there’s truth in it, yes.
“I mean we’ve punched above our weight for a number of years now. We’ve kept this team in the league for a number of years, but the fact is we are still in a situation where every game for us has got to be a fight. Every game for us has got to be street fighting.
“We need the fans of Crystal Palace as we know them, because without them it will become really, really hard for us, because the players need them, so I suppose my point, if I’m making a point at all, is don’t desert us because it’s a bad moment.
“We’re as sad as you are. We aren’t giving you what you want. If I say you’ve been spoiled, well, that’s pretty harsh. I mean, what is spoiled?
“But for me you have to remember that my relationship with the club is basically a fourth division club, a third division club, a Championship club. The first division of the football league when I was growing up was beyond my wildest dreams.
“Now it’s not. Now I think we are a bona-fide Premier League team. I think we’ve earned that right.”
Brendan Rodgers delighted as Oh Hyeon-gyu seizes Celtic chance
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers praised Oh Hyeon-gyu for seizing his chance after the South Korea striker hit a double in a 4-1 win over Hibernian.
Oh got the final touch as Celtic opened the scoring from a fifth-minute set-piece and he ran on to Callum McGregor’s ball down the channel, brushed off Will Fish and slotted home in the 55th minute, shortly before making way for Kyogo Furuhashi.
It was only the 22-year-old’s second start under Rodgers while the Celtic manager brought holding midfielder Tomoki Iwata and winger Mikey Johnston into his line-up for the first time.
After his side maintained their eight-point lead over Rangers in the cinch Premiership, Rodgers said: “I said this was a month where players would get a chance. Tommo came in and did really well, Oh was excellent.
“He was a really good reference for the team, his hold-up play, in the box he’s there and obviously his second goal shows he can also run in behind.
“Great strength and then really good composure. I was really pleased with him. He came into the game and did really well.
“Mikey has been better off the bench but he deserved his start because of the impact he has had. It’s just being more aggressive in his running but he deserved his start.
“Especially in this period of the season, you need to have freshness at the top end of the field in particular. Changing two out of the front three gave us that freshness.
“Kyogo can’t play every game but when you have someone like Oh who can come in and make an impact, it’s good.”
Rodgers also handed Cameron Carter-Vickers a rest in the second half after the defender reported a minor hamstring issue, while Greg Taylor came off after playing through illness.
The champions also netted through Matt O’Riley’s header and Luis Palma’s penalty but Hibs deserved some reward for their enterprising play and got it when substitute Christian Doidge netted from close range.
Hibs head coach Nick Montgomery had some frustration over referee John Beaton’s VAR-assisted penalty award for Lewis Stevenson’s challenge on Alistair Johnston.
“I said to the boys at half-time, both the goals were really avoidable,” he said. “I think we probably had the two best chances of the first half, two one-on-ones, two big saves from Joe Hart.
“Second half we started quite brightly and for me it’s a soft penalty. The crowd shout for it and he goes to the VAR and he looks at it in slow motion.
“We have probably had five or six of those incidents in my time at the club and we have never had a penalty. It never goes to VAR.
“The player that went down didn’t think it was a penalty, he said that to the boys.
“If we are going to go to VAR and have a look at every incident, there’s going to be a lot more free-kicks, a lot more cards, a lot more penalties, because when you slow everything down there is always some element where you could change your decision.
“Three-nil away at Celtic, two soft goals and a penalty, and we didn’t take our chances, so it’s an uphill task.
“But I was really proud of the effort, the way we played. The boys were brave and we had some really good passages of play.”
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