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Arsenal’s poor form continued as they were dumped out of the EFL Cup by an impressive Manchester City team on Tuesday. Let’s take a look at the latest news featuring Arsenal from 23 December 2020:
Allardyce feels relegation a real possibility for Arsenal
New West Brom boss Sam Allardyce feels Arsenal’s poor form puts them in the bracket of teams who could potentially be relegated this season.
The former England manager was appointed as the West Brom boss barely a week ago and will face Arsenal on 3rd January in the Premier League.
The clash is being seen as a relegation six-pointer with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal failing to win any of their last seven games in the league and have lost five times. Both sides will play a couple of games before their clash in 2021, however.
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When asked if Arsenal are one of the teams in the scrap for survival, Allardyce said:
"Absolutely. They haven’t won a Premier League game for almost double figures.
"Getting beaten last night, even though not in the Premier League drains confidence of Arsenal’s players. They will be wondering what has hit them."
Mustafi being linked with a move to Barcelona
Probably something you didn’t expect, reader. Arsenal’s Shkodran Mustafi is being linked with a shock move to La Liga giants Barcelona.
Since his £35 million move from Valencia in 2016, Mustafi has struggled to put in consistent performances and has had an error-prone spell at the Emirates. He is no longer first-choice at Arsenal, and is expected to leave before his contract comes to end in July 2020 if Arsenal can find a buyer.
Emre Öztürk, Mustafi’s agent, was spotted in Catalonia, and the initial reaction was that he was there because of teenager Yusuf Demir, who has been linked with a move to Barcelona.
However, Öztürk revealed that he was in Barcelona because of Mustafi:
“I'm not in Barcelona because of Yusuf Demir," he told SPOX journalist Fabian Zerche (h/t Express).
"But because of Mustafi from Arsenal, whom we also represent."
Keown feels Arteta cannot get any more signings wrong
Arsenal’s summer signings have struggled this season, either with poor form, or with injuries. While Thomas Partey has done well but has been troubled by injuries, the duo of Willian and Alex Runarsson have not been good enough.
William Saliba, who was signed under Unai Emery, is yet to feature for the Gunners, and many fans and pundits have been flabbergasted by his absence as the Gunners defence has hardly impressed.
Arsenal legend Martin Keown has warned Mikel Arteta that he can ill-afford to sign the wrong players in January as the club are in a free-fall.
“You really can't get anything wrong from now on in. With the January transfer window coming up, there can be no more mistakes.
“They paid £25m for William Saliba and he doesn't have a squad number, Nicolas Pepe is wandering around like he's not interested, Willian is on holiday,” Keown added.
