Mikel Arteta officially started work at Arsenal on Sunday and appears set to get busy in the transfer market.
The Gunners reportedly have two targets in their sights, including a Serie A star.
Arsenal could do with an injection of excitement after slipping to 11th in the Premier League following their lacklustre goalless draw at Everton.
TOP STORY – GUNNERS EYE MERTENS AND VOLLAND
Among the players Arsenal admire is Napoli mainstay Dries Mertens, according to CalcioMercato.
Mertens, on target five times in the Champions League this term, will be available on a free at the end of the season.
Borussia Dortmund are also said to be interested in the 32-year-old, potentially forcing Arsenal to look elsewhere for reinforcements.
Gareth Southgate says the way England took apart the lower-ranked sides in their Euro 2020 qualifying group should give Three Lions fans plenty of optimism for next year s tournament.
England coasted to top spot in Group A, their only blip a surprise 2-1 loss away to the Czech Republic, scoring an impressive 37 goals in eight games along the way.
Having reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in Russia last year, England are among the more fancied sides for European Championship glory.
Croatia, who defeated the Three Lions at the World Cup, and Czech Republic will be in England s group at the Euros with one spot yet to be filled, and Southgate is confident his side will compete with the favourites.
We expected to win our [qualification] group but the…
Boca Juniors were crowned back-to-back Argentinian Primera Division champions for the first time in more than a decade.
A 2-2 draw at Gimnasia La Plata on Wednesday was enough to secure a 33rd league title for Boca.
The success moved them to within three crowns of fierce rivals River Plate for the most league titles in Argentina.
The draw at the Estadio Juan Carmelo Zerillo pushed Boca four points clear of second-placed Godoy Cruz with one game remaining.
¡ CAMPEÓN DE LA SUPERLIGA 2017/18!
— Boca Jrs. Oficial (@BocaJrsOficial)
It marked the first time since 2005-06 that Boca had claimed back-to-back league titles.
2 ha ganado su segundo título consecutivo de Primera División, algo que consigue por primera vez desde 2005-…
Atletico keen on Javier Hernandez
Fox Sports is reporting that Atletico Madrid are showing interest in Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez.
The Mexican has returned to Old Trafford following a successful loan spell with Real Madrid, after los Blancos opted against making the transfer permanent.
But, it appears that Hernandez will be given an opportunity to return to Madrid after all, with Atletico Madrid now keen on his services.
Namely, Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal plans to offload the talented footballer this summer and los Colchoneros seem ready to pounce.
Atletico have singled out Porto s Jackson Martinez as a perfect replacement for Mario Mandzukic, but they could turn their attention to Hernandez if the Colombian moves el…
Brisbane Roar coach Rado Vidosic says the door is always open for revered former captain Matt McKay to return to the club.
McKay who led Brisbane to the 2010/11 A-League title made a surprise appearance at Roar training on Friday ahead of next week s Socceroos camp.
The 29-year-old is recovering from surgery to repair a fractured cheekbone sustained while turning out for South Korean club Busan I Park and has returned to his hometown to boost his fitness ahead of the East Asian Cup 2013 qualifiers.
Facing a Sunday clash against Central Coast, Vidosic would dearly love to have old hand McKay back in his squad on a permanent basis, and gave the club legend an open invitation to do just that at any time.
He was a great captain, he was part of that 36 undef…
Catania midfielder Alejandro Gomez has revealed he still hopes to represent Argentina in the future, but acknowledges it will difficult.
The 24-year-old joined the Serie A side in 2010 and has impressed with his form so far this season, notching four goals and five assists in his 14 league appearances.
However, the former San Lorenzo man is under no illusions as to the difficulty of breaking into Alejandro Sabella s Argentina set-up, particularly when playing for a club outside of the Scudetto s major players.
Here in Italy, people see me playing every week and they see I m doing fine, scoring goals. So they ask me: When do you think you ll be called up by Argentina?’ he told Goal.com.
But I always tell them the same thing. In the position I play, ther…
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes Lionel Messi deserves the Ballon d Or because of his outrageous goalscoring record this year.
The Gunners boss said the Argentina international deserves to retain his award ahead of Real Madrid s Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona team-mate Andres Iniesta.
Despite being impressed by all three candidates, the Frenchman thinks that Messi s 76 goals so far this calendar year make him the worthy winner of the award.
It s very difficult. For the class, Messi (should win it),” Wenger told Arsenal s official website.
He’s scored 76 goals in one year. It looks just outrageous to me. Therefore it would be one thing to reward something exceptional.
Ronaldo has always been there and he deserves it as well. He won t…
