Arsenal column: GENUINE interest in £100m star, latest on Alexander Isak links, & more

The curiosity from Saudi Arabia in Gabriel Magalhaes is nothing new, it dates again a few years now.

In the summertime of 2023 there have been fears at Arsenal that Gabriel’s head had been turned by the cash that was on supply, which was why he was ignored of the workforce in these early video games that season.

Mikel Arteta publicly stated it was tactical, but it surely wasn’t. It was due to what was happening behind the scenes with the curiosity from Saudi.

Arsenal didn’t wish to lose him and finally Gabriel stayed put, with Arteta swiftly restoring him to his beginning XI as soon as the scenario was put to mattress.

Since then Gabriel has clearly gone to kind what, in my view, is the most effective centre-back partnership within the Premier League and presumably even the world with William Saliba.

So the very last thing Arsenal would need this summer time is a repeat of what occurred in 2023, however it might be no shock if the curiosity from Saudi did end in a agency supply, though at this stage it’s a bit too early to counsel it undoubtedly will.

Clearly each participant has a worth, so I can’t sit right here and say Arsenal shouldn’t even ponder a sale ought to a bid arrive, but it surely must be enormous to tempt them into doing enterprise – over £100m in my view.

Gabriel is so essential to this workforce at each ends of the pitch. He’s comfortably my Arsenal participant of the season and together with Saliba he’s the bedrock that the aspect is constructed on.

There are going to be modifications within the defensive midfield come the summer time which the workforce goes to should adapt to subsequent season, so that you don’t wish to have modifications at centre-back as effectively.

So for me the essential factor is getting Gabriel tied all the way down to a brand new contract as a result of he completely deserves one.

He was the primary participant to essentially signal a brand new deal when Arsenal did their final spherical of renewals and I might think about his wages are at present a bit under that of Saliba, who signed his extension a yr later.

So he clearly warrants a brand new deal, one which displays his stature on this workforce. He’s confirmed he is among the greatest centre-backs on the planet and he needs to be paid as such.

He’s in a robust place in terms of contract talks. Early discussions began final yr and have but to succeed in a conclusion, in order that’s one thing new sporting director Andrea Berta might want to give attention to as soon as he begins his new position.

The curiosity from Saudi will little doubt complicate issues a bit, however I hope Arsenal will see it off and persuade Gabriel that his future stays in North London.

The Alexander Isak speak is just not going to go away.

Each time he does one thing good, the hypothesis over a transfer to Arsenal will resurface – because it has since Sunday’s fabulous win for Newcastle at Wembley within the Carabao Cup closing.

We all know Arsenal wish to signal Isak and we all know Mikel Arteta admires him tremendously. Ought to a possibility to get him this summer time then I’m certain the membership would push the boat out to attempt to get it performed.

However I simply don’t see it taking place.

There’s a suggestion that if Newcastle miss out on a Champions League spot then the door may open slightly bit when it comes to the potential of them cashing in on Isak, however even then I might contemplate it extraordinarily unlikely.

I’m certain they’d look to promote a number of different gamers first earlier than they’d contemplate a suggestion for Isak, particularly from a home rival.

They simply don’t have to promote him. He’s bought a long-term contract and even when he states that he doesn’t wish to focus on an extension, there is no such thing as a want for them to let him go this summer time.

It could take a monumental supply to tempt them into doing enterprise for his or her prized asset and I simply can’t see Arsenal attending to a determine that may make Newcastle contemplate it

I’ve stated it earlier than and I nonetheless suppose that Benjamin Sesko is the much more doubtless possibility in terms of a brand new striker coming on this summer time.

The membership have performed a whole lot of the groundwork in terms of the Slovenia worldwide and RB Leipzig will probably be open to doing enterprise on the finish of the season, in contrast to Newcastle.

It’s nice to see Myles Lewis-Skelly referred to as up for England responsibility. It’s completely deserved.

Ideally, I believe Thomas Tuchel would have most likely most well-liked to let him have at the least one camp with the Below-21s first, however with different left-back choices unavailable he needed to embrace him now actually.

As I stated, it’s a deserved call-up. Lewis-Skelly has been distinctive since coming into the first-team set-up at Arsenal this season.

Nothing fazes him and I’m certain this received’t both, even with the additional scrutiny that comes with being referred to as up by England.

The best way he has taken to senior soccer this season, each within the Premier League and within the Champions League has been so spectacular, particularly whenever you think about that he’s taking part in able that’s nonetheless comparatively new to him.

It wasn’t way back that he was often called a central midfielder, a field to field participant who may pop up with essential moments at both finish of the pitch.

So the actual fact he has made himself among the best left-backs within the nation in a brief area of time on the age of simply 18 exhibits how clever a footballer he’s.

There’s a view that in some unspecified time in the future he’ll transfer additional up the pitch and again right into a midfield position, however I don’t actually see that occuring I’ve to say, not within the brief time period anyway.

I believe he fits that inverted left-back position so effectively and that permits him to function in central areas a whole lot of the time anyway. So I don’t actually see the purpose of transferring him again into midfield proper now.

Honest play to Mika Biereth. It’s nice to see him doing so effectively at Monaco.

You count on to see his identify on the scoresheet each time they play in the mean time, given how prolific he has been since his transfer from Stern Graz in January.

It’s simple to take a look at it and say that Arsenal will remorse letting him go, particularly as he’s scoring so many at a time when the membership are having to function with out a central striker.

However I don’t suppose Arsenal will see it that manner. They are going to be pleased to see him doing so effectively.

Perhaps in hindsight they’ll suppose they need to have held out and never offered him for simply £4m to Sturm Graz within the first place, however he had made it clear at that time that he was not going to signal a brand new contract in order that they weren’t in an important place to barter.

I do know they had been fairly pleased with the deal they bought on the time with Sturm Graz and in addition the sell-on charge they agreed, one which has seen them pocket an additional couple of million from his onward transfer to Monaco.

Arsenal preferred Biereth when he was on the membership. They knew he was a very good goalscorer however there have been doubts over whether or not he could be ok to be the primary man on the membership, which is one thing he completely needs to be at any membership that he performs for.

So I believe it was a very good transfer for all events that he went out and bought on together with his profession. It’s one that’s definitely paying off for him to date and lengthy might that proceed.