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Is Gabriel on his way to Barcelona? Arsenal risk losing one of their best defenders this summer if they are not careful. Gabriel has been a revelation under Mikel Arteta since his arrival in North London from Lille. The £28million fee for the Brazilian centre-back seemed a fair price when he joined the club in 2020, and it has proven to be one of the best deals the club has made in recent years, with the defender redefining what it means to play at the back for Arsenal. He's solid, he works hard, and he's prepared to put his body on the line for his team. And he combines that with the ability to distribute the ball at the back and carry it into midfield. But perhaps most importantly, he loves to defend, a trait the Gunners haven't had in the heart of their back four since Sol Campbell left the club. However, Arteta could be at risk of losing the solidity he has established at the back, with the Brazilian linked with a big-money move to Barcelona. Why Barcelona? The Spanish...

Player Profile: Joel Lopez by Jack Lacey-Hatton Arsenal now possess greater depth at left-back than any other position on the pitch and that now extends beyond the first-team. Joel López Salguero has impressed this year in Arsenal’s development side, and in the coming seasons may be in a position to challenge Kieran Tierney and others. In fact he has already trained with the senior team on several occasions this season, with manager Mikel Arteta clearly keen to get a good look at a player many have tipped to become one of the best young full-backs in Europe. But for those who haven’t tracked his progress so far, let’s dig deeper into Lopez’s background and how he ended up in North London.     Who is he? Lopez was born in Barcelona on March 31 2002, turning 20 at the end of this month. He originally joined his hometown club as a youth team player training at the famous La Masia academy, the centre responsible for Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta among others. Lopez blossomed int...

Where did it all go wrong for Jack Wilshere? By Oscar Maung-Haley Do you remember THAT Jack Wilshere performance? The one on the 16th of February 2011 against Barcelona in the Champions League? Wilshere was the best player on the park that night, bossing a Catalan midfield that boasted Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta and Xavi at just 19 years old. It was supposed to be Wilshere’s step onto the world stage, an announcement that he had arrived and would go on to be a potentially generational midfielder. But fast forward ten years and Wilshere’s career looks wildly different to what was predicted. So where did it all go wrong? Injuries, injuries and more injuries Let’s get this one out of the way first – it cannot be overstated how much injuries impacted upon Wilshere’s career. Following his incredible 2010-11 campaign, in which he featured 49 times for the Gunners in all competitions, injuries meant that Wilshere missed the entirety of the following season. From there, it was a downward ...

15 Years On: A look back at how close Arsenal came to Champions League glory in 2006  By Josh Graham With London rivals Chelsea heading into the Champions League final against Manchester City, Gunners fans have been reminiscing about the time they came so close to being crowned European champions. Arsene Wenger’s men came up despairingly short in the 2006 showpiece against Barcelona, losing 2-1 in Paris.  Now 15 years on, we look at just how close Arsenal came to getting their hands on the trophy.   Run to the final  Arsenal convincingly topped a group that included Ajax, Swiss side Thun and Sparta Prague.  The Gunners won every game aside from the final round of matches when they drew 0-0 with the Dutch giants at Highbury, with both teams progressing into the knockouts.  Thierry Henry’s crucial goal at the Bernabeu in the first leg was then enough to see off Real Madrid’s Galacticos in the last 16.  The Frenchman bagged the only goal of the tie as Ars...

                                         Should Mikel Arteta make a summer move to bring Philippe Coutinho to Arsenal from Barcelona? By Adam Le Roux The mornings are getting brighter, the evenings are getting longer, so it can only mean one thing, the summer transfer window is only just around the corner. No sooner have we dissected the comings and goings of January, than the conversation turns to who Mikel Arteta will choose to purchase in order to strengthen his Arsenal side heading into the next campaign. In a season with more downs than ups for the Gunners there will plenty of hearsay about who will be coming and going through the doors of the Emirates in the close-season, but one man who has already been touted is Barcelona’s Philippe Coutinho. Any Arsenal fan will already be well aware of the talent that the Brazilian possesses, having seen him produce the goods time and time ...