My Arsenal Blog

As the January transfer window slowly unfolds, Arsenal have been linked heavily with two players who could potentially boost the back line of the team. One of them is RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano, young (21), talented, perceived by most as an old fashion centre-back – a player who ‘loves to defend’ as they say.

Adding such a player to the ranks probably wouldn’t solve much straight away. Every player who changes clubs, let alone leagues, needs time to adapt, to absorb the teachings and the tactical demands of the new coaching team. Experienced players usually get the hang of these issues much quicker than younger ones, and to expect a 21-year-old to come in and notably improve a defence that has been looking frail (to put it mildly) for years would seem a folly.  .......Read more here.....

Recent reports credited Arsenal with Bayern Munich’s out-of-favour defender Jerome Boateng. It’s certainly a rumour that makes sense, given Arsenal’s need for a quality centre-back after serious knee injury ruled Calum Chambers out for the rest of the season.

When asked about it, Bayern interim head coach Hansi Flick said he maintains regular contact with the 31-year-old former Germany international, and that departure hasn’t been discussed between them. But on the other hand, Sky Sports believe the Bavarians would be willing to part with the player for as little as €15 million (£12.8m).  .......Read more here.....

According to Sky Sports, Arsenal are interested in signing Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng this winter.

The 31-year-old has been with the Bavarian club for so long – since the summer of 2011 – that not many now even remember that he actually played 24 times for Manchester City during the previous 12 months, 16 of those in the Premier League. But during his time in Munich, he amassed over 300 appearances for the Bundesliga champions, helping them win seven consecutive league titles, four DFB-Pokal trophies and the 2013 international treble – Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. He also has 76 caps and the 2014 World Cup with Germany to his name. Primarily a centre-back, of course, he is also quite capable of playing on defensive flanks.  .......Read more here.....

Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has opened up on the way the club lost the services of Serge Gnabry, who has gone on to shine for Bayern Munich.

Gnabry made his professional debut for Arsenal at the age of 17, back in 2012 when he entered a League Cup clash against Coventry City in the 72nd minute in the place of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and he went on to play a total of 18 games for the club before leaving on loan to West Bromwich Albion in 2015. The temporary move was cancelled and he returned to the Emirates the following winter due to not getting enough game-time with the Baggies. Wenger says he tried to “rebuild” him following that “very bad experience” which had destroyed his confidence.  .......Read more here.....

Pre-season friendlies can either be incredibly tedious, or they can be pretty fun. It won’t come as much of a surprise for you to learn, or already know, that it pretty much all depends on whether or not your team wins the game. Arsenal supporters knew that the pre-season tour of the United States didn’t really mean all that much in the grand scheme of things, but after the resounding win over Colorado Rapids, there was cause for some optimism.  .......Read more here.....

Fans who have been following Arsenal over the course of the last few years will be well aware of the fact that they haven’t done a wonderful job of playing against Bayern Munich. The German giants always seem to get one over in the Gunners, to the point where they have actually embarrassed them on several occasions. Now, with a pre-season friendly against them being on the horizon, we wonder how seriously both teams are going to be taking it.  .......Read more here.....

Arsenal have started negotiations over new deals for Tyreece John-Jules and Xavier Amaechi, according to the Mirror.

The 18-year-old John-Jules, a striker by trade, and Amaechi, also 18 but playing in the middle of the park, have been on the radar of several big clubs across Europe, most notably Bayern Munich. The Bundesliga champions have a relatively healthy approach (for themselves) in picking transfer targets, and while they are always looking to sign a top class player like Robert Lewandowski, Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, Mats Hummels and many others, they always find room for the likes of former Gunner Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman and Niklas Sule.  .......Read more here.....

Highly-rated Bayern Munich and Austria star David Alaba has been talking about his childhood love of Arsenal. An interview given to German publication Bild has led to speculation linking the 26-year-old with a switch to the Emirates Stadium.

Talked about Spain and England

In his interview with Bild, Alaba said: “I can imagine trying something else but I really feel very comfortable at Bayern.

“Every year there a new challenges and new objectives and the pressure will always be there. I’m happy in Munich but of course, I can imagine seeing something else. Spain, England. In Spain it would be the two big clubs, I guess? Real or Barcelona. Also the big clubs [in England].”  .......Read more here.....

The rumour mill is going to be churning out a variety of different names pretty thick and fast over the course of the next eight days or so. That much is to be expected, and we just have to kind of deal with it. However, while we’d usually try and avoid stories that seem outlandish, the name James Rodriguez crossed our desk – and we haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.  .......Read more here.....

There had been speculation in a number of British tabloids of late linking Arsenal with a move for Colombian playmaker James Rodriguez, who is currently on-loan at Bayern Munich from Real Madrid. However, respected German football expert Raphael Honigstein has poured cold water on the story, suggesting it would be crazy for Bayern Munich to cut short their two-year loan deal at this point.

Arsenal does not have the funds to sign Rodriguez

We all now know that Arsenal can only make loan signings in the January transfer window. That leaves the question of how the Gunners could afford the Colombian international if boss Unai Emery is restricted to signing loan players.  .......Read more here.....