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ARSENAL SIGN BRIGHTON GOALKEEPER MATT RYAN ON LOAN.

Arsenal have signed Australian goalkeeper Mat Ryan on loan from Brighton for the rest of the season from Brighton.

The 28-year-old has made 124 appearances since signing for Brighton in 2017 but he’s been out of favour with Graham Potter’s side after losing his place to Robert Sanchez in December.

Brighton boss Potter says Ryan wanted to leave the club in the hope of getting more first team opportunities elsewhere.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said: “We know Mat very well through his performances with Brighton in recent seasons and he brings additional quality to our squad.

“Mat has very good Premier League experience and has played over 100 times in the league, which is something that will benefit us greatly on and off the pitch.

“We welcome Mat to Arsenal and look forward to working with him this season.”

Arsenal Technical director Edu added “Mat is an experienced goalkeeper, a proven talent in the Premier League and has also played many internationals for Australia.

“Mat will further strengthen our squad with his experience and knowledge of playing at the highest level.

“Following Matt Macey’s recent move to Hibernian, Mat will provide very good competition and positive support to all our goalkeepers and we are looking forward to him integrating quickly into the set-up here at Arsenal.”

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AUBAMEYANG SCORES BRACE AS GUNNERS SINK NEWCASTLE.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice in a match for the first time this season as Arsenal earned a comfortable 3-0 win over Newcastle United.

Aubameyang had already struck a post and fired over in the first half before he put the Gunners ahead in the 50th minute.

The Gabonese striker collected a long pass from Thomas Partey, got the better of Emil Krafth and fired high past Karl Darlow.

Bukayo Saka doubled the lead 10 minutes later when he swept home a pinpoint pass from Emile Smith Rowe.

Aubameyang struck again from close range after excellent work by Cedric Soares to cross from the byline.

Andy Carroll had the Magpies’ best chance when he thumped a shot wide on 59 minutes.

Arsenal, unbeaten in five Premier League matches, climb to 10th place with 27 points.

Newcastle are now winless in seven top-flight encounters and remain 15th on 19 points.

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OZIL SET TO LEAVE ARSENAL FOR FENERBAHCE AFTER AGREEING TO END CONTRACT WITH LONDONERS.

Mesut Ozil’s seven and a half year stay at Arsenal is set to end after the two parties reached an agreement in principle to release him from his contract.

The 32-year-old has not played for the Gunners since March and his £350,000-a-week deal was set to expire at the end of the current season.

The PA news agency understands, however, that both parties have all-but agreed to tear up the final months of his contract.

Ozil had been expected to leave in the January transfer window and would be able to sign for another club as a free agent should the final few details be ironed out smoothly.

Major League Soccer’s DC United had been strongly linked with a move for the former Germany international but Fenerbahce are now believed to be leading the race to sign Ozil.

Having started the first 10 games under Mikel Arteta following his appointment in December 2019, Ozil has not featured since a 1-0 win over West Ham before the coronavirus pandemic saw football grind to a halt.

He was omitted from Arsenal’s Premier League and Europa League squads, with Arteta and technical director Edu insisting the decision to do so was down to footballing reasons.

Ozil was criticised in some quarters when he refused to take a pay-cut during the summer, with no football being played and Arsenal looking to balance the books.

He had signed his current deal in January 2018 to become the highest-paid player in the club’s history but now looks set to depart on a free.

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OZIL TO BE PAID OUTSTANDING WAGE OF £7M BEFORE LEAVING ARSENAL.

Arsenal will have to pay Mesut Ozil a fortune before he leaves to join Fenerbahce, reports say.

The German playmaker has slipped to the bottom of the pecking order under Mikel Arteta in recent months, and was left out of both their Premier League and Europa League playing squads.

The 32-year-old, who was a fan favourite during the tenure of Arsene Wenger, looks set to leave after eight years in north London, during which time he has created 77 goals across 254 appearances.

Although he looks very unlikely to add to that tally, his wages are not yet paid up in full.

That total fee is due to his £350,000-a-week deal, which is set to end in the summer.

He adds that terms are currently behind discussed with Fenerbahce, with Ozil having family ties to Turkey.

Should he join Fenerbahce this month, it is likely that Arsenal will have to come to a mammoth financial agreement with the World Cup winner.

Arteta said of the player this week: “We will discuss it internally, what the best situation is for him in the near future, with the player and the agent and try to find the best solution for everybody.

“We will decide what is happening in the next few days.”

Before adding of his omission from their Premier League playing squad: “We have to make a decision.

” I had to make a decision. I made it. I knew the consequences of it.

“And now we are having to make another in January, and we will put in the balance of the best thing for the club, the best thing for the team, the intention of the player and try to find the right solution.”

Although Ozil has been training with the first-team, he was recently given time off for personal reasons.

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I ALMOST JOINED ARSENAL – WILFRED ZAHA REVEALS.

Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha has revealed how close to came to joining Arsenal in 2019.

Zaha, an Arsenal fan, was targeted by then-Gunners manager Unai Emery 18 months ago and both clubs entered into negotiations.

Palace reportedly stood firm on their valuation prompting Arsenal to end up spending a club-record £72million on Nicolas Pepe in a deal which required little payment up front.

I had a conversation with the manager,” Zaha told Jamie Carragher’s The Greatest Game Podcast.

“[Unai] Emery was just like, ‘We don’t really need to go through much’. He said he’d seen me play, he knows I can change games at any time and stuff like that.

He was like, ‘Yeah we’d love to have you’ and I was just like, ‘Yeah I’d love to come’.

“The conversation was rather straightforward because I played against him when he was manager of Arsenal.

“He saw what I could do, saw my work-rate, and what I could add to the team.”

Pepe has underwhelmed since his big-money move from France, only showing in flashes his form from Ligue 1.

Zaha, meanwhile, is enjoying the best form of his career with eight goals in 15 games this season.

He added: “Obviously, it was up to the club who they chose. And they chose Pepe over me.”

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OMAR REKIK BECOMES ARSENAL’S FIRST SUMMER SIGNING.

Premier League giants Arsenal have confirmed the first winter addition to the club’s squad, in the form of starlet Omar Rekik.

Rekik, a central defender who can also play in midfield, had long been viewed as one of the most highly regarded young talents in Germany.

The stopper previously spent time honing his craft as part of the youth setups of all of Feyenoord, Manchester City, PSV and Marseille.

With brother Karim, who has since departed the German capital to join Sevilla, having been on the books of Hertha Berlin, though, Omar opted to link up with the Bundesliga outfit in the summer of 2018.

And it was with Die Alte Dame that Rekik went on to showcase exactly what a top defender he looks primed to develop into.

Highlighting just how impressive the teen’s performances have been over the last couple of years is the fact that, despite his tender years, Rekik has already established himself as a senior Tunisian international.

In turn, it came as little surprise to hear of interest in the gifted stopper’s services begin to mount this past summer.

Chief among a host of clubs tipped as admirers of Rekik’s talents, meanwhile, were Premier League giants Arsenal.

As such, it no doubt came as music to the ears of the Gunners faithful when, late last year, word began to spread that their side were not only stepping up their interest, but closing on a deal for the Hertha starlet.

In fact, some outlets went as far as to claim that an agreement was in place to take Rekik to the Emirates in January.

And, as outlined above, such claims have today proven to be spot on.

In a post across the club’s social media platforms a short time ago, Arsenal announced that the 19-year-old, described as ‘a ball playing centre half who can play on both sides’, has put pen to paper on professional terms with the club.

Rekik is set to join up with the Gunners’ U23 side, where he will spend the remainder of the campaign developing under Per Mertesacker.

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LACAZETTE SCORES TWICE TO DROWN WESTBROM IN THIRD STRAIGHT WIN FOR THE GUNNERS.

Arsenal scored twice in each half to earn a third straight Premier League victory, beating West Bromwich Albion 4-0 at The Hawthorns.

The Gunners started the match strongly and took the lead through Kieran Tierney’s fine solo goal, the defender beating Darnell Furlong before cutting inside and finding the top-right corner.

Matt Phillips stung the palms of Bernd Leno before Arsenal doubled their advantage with 28 minutes on the clock.

Emile Smith-Rowe squared for Bukayo Saka to tap in from close range after a slick passing move involving Alexandre Lacazette.

Lacazette then pounced on a loose ball on the hour mark to score for the third match in succession, before converting Tierney’s cross to double his tally four minutes later.

Having built on wins over Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion, Arsenal move up to 11th place with 23 points.

West Brom remain 19th, six points from safety.

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SUPER SUB, LACAZETTE SCORE RARE WINNER AS GUNNERS EARN SECOND CONSECUTIVE REDEMPTION WIN.

Alexandre Lacazette scored 29 seconds after coming on as a substitute to earn Arsenal a 1-0 win at Brighton & Hove Albion.

The decisive moment came in the 66th minute, with Bukayo Saka turning on the halfway line before setting up Lacazette, who took a touch before curling in a low shot into the bottom-right corner.

The best chances of the match came after half-time, with Brighton’s Bernardo twice going close before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s close-range effort for Arsenal was saved by goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.

Gabriel Martinelli whipped a shot just over the crossbar before going off to be replaced by Lacazette, whose impact was instant.

Back-to-back victories move Arsenal up to 13th with 20 points.

Brighton have dropped to 17th, on 13 points, after extending their winless run to seven matches.

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XHAKA, SAKA ON TARGET AS GUNNERS BEAT THE BLUES TO REVIVE FORM.

Granit Xhaka’s superb free-kick helped Arsenal end their seven-match winless run as they defeated Chelsea 3-1 at Emirates Stadium.

Chelsea went close to opening the scoring when Mason Mount’s free-kick hit the outside of a post.

But Arsenal took the lead on 34 minutes, with Alexandre Lacazette converting a penalty after Reece James had fouled Kieran Tierney.

Xhaka doubled Arsenal’s advantage 10 minutes later with a brilliant set-piece strike into the top-right corner from 25 yards.

It was 3-0 on 56 minutes as Bukayo Saka curled the ball in off the inside of the left post from a tight angle from the far-right side of the penalty area.

Tammy Abraham chested in Callum Hudson-Odoi’s cross with five minutes remaining as Chelsea rallied, but the visitors were denied a second when Bernd Leno saved Jorginho’s stoppage-time penalty.

Arsenal move up to 14th with 17 points, while a third consecutive away defeat leaves Chelsea seventh on 25 points.

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ARSENAL ARE JUST LIKE US – ALLARDYCE.

West Brom boss Sam Allardyce insists Arsenal are in a relegation battle just like Westbromwich Albion, his new team.

The Gunners are 15th in the table having lost five of their last seven Primmer League matches.

Allardyce, who has never suffered relegation with his seven previous top-flight clubs, replaced Slaven Bilic at the Hawthorns last week.

The Baggies are five points from safety after 14 games and host Arsenal on January 2.

Asked if he views the Gunners as a relegation rival, Allardyce said: “If they are in the bottom eight at the moment, yes, absolutely.

They’ve only won maybe one in the last 10 or so, and it appears their big results have come in the Europa League.

“And of course getting beat again last night, even though it’s not in the league, as it does with our players, drains the confidence of Arsenal’s players, of course it will.

Because they’ll be wondering what has hit them, why they are down there, and what it is going to take to get out of that position.

“I know what it takes, I hope I can convince the players to respond to what I say on what it takes to get out of it.

I hope we can push on Arsenal when they play us because they’ve got a lack of confidence, and try to beat them – or anybody in the bottom eight.”

He added: “[Arsenal boss] Mikel Arteta would not think they’d be in that position at this moment in time, but he seems a strong character, seems to not move away from what his beliefs are – which is what we all have to do.”