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Another impressive win over Sevilla in the Emirates Cup on Saturday afternoon cements what has been a wonderful summer for the Gunners as they prepare the take on Crystal Palace in the Premier League curtain raiser on Friday night. Six massive goals without reply, four in the last nine of the first twenty minutes, Arsenal blew away their Spanish opposition who are also in full strength to claim the Emirates Cup. Playing in an Arsenal shirt for the first time at the Emirates, Gabriel Jesus bagged a hat-trick, Bukayo Saka hit a brace and substitute Eddie Nketiah completed what was a remarkable Arsenal win. Gabriel Martinelli was heavily involved in four of the six goals while the center back pair of Gabriel Magalhães and William Saliba continue to shut out opposition. Preseason is done and now the real battle is set to take off on Friday evening. Arsenal fans will have high expectations of the new season and rightly so following the management’s backing of the manager, which has seen the

Latest Arsenal signing, Oleksandr Zinchenko has revealed the exchange of nicknames between himself and new teammate and goalkeeper, Aaron Ramsdale. 25-year-old Zinchenko moved to the Emirates this summer in a £32 million deal from Manchester City and has seemingly settled well given the updates from the club since his arrival. In his latest interview, the Ukraine international said in response to reports goalkeeper, Aaron Ramsdale has given him the nickname ‘Zinky Winky’, that he in return calls him Boris Johnson because the Goalkeeper looks like the British Prime Minister. Ramsdale and Zinchenko both featured in Arsenal's 4-0 preseason win over Chelsea with the new man playing the first 45 minutes, matter of hours after the confirmation of his move from City. Reports like this should excite fans that the atmosphere has been positive both on and off the pitch, and their new signings are settling in well with their new teammates. Arsenal play Sevilla on Saturday in the Emirates Cup

In the end, the signings will come in for Chelsea this summer despite the setbacks they've had albeit most of the signings still to come this will see them overpay because time is running out and they will become short of options. Yes. Chelsea have already paid part of the price for the incapability of the duo of Todd Boehly and Thomas Tuchel as they've seen some of their primary targets moved elsewhere but more is still to come before the end of the summer. Maybe there will be no Barcelona to beat them to another signing. Maybe the players this time round will more opened to joining Chelsea but some of the factors that will still haunt them is time, and teams will continue to overvalue their players as they've learnt of Chelsea's desperation. The club's summer business has been really impacted by the sanction at the start of the summer and the time wasted on player departures and as well at the helm of affairs. This summer has seen a lot depart the club following t

Liverpool assistant manager, Pep Lijnders has confirmed that current Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta approached him in 2019 to become his assistant at the club. Lijnders, who has been at Liverpool since 2014 when he joined from Porto had a brief spell at NEC Nijmegen in 2018 before returning to Liverpool the same year. He was together with Mikel Arteta years earlier when they both took the Pro Licence course and they have keep a close relationship since then while they serve as assistance to the two biggest rivals in the league. Pep Lijnders said: “Mikel Arteta had asked me to be his assistant manager when he was preparing for his new step into management. We were together years earlier on the Pro Licence course. His request came out of nothing.” Lijnders was part of the Liverpool side that ended their 30 years wait for a Premier League crown while Mikel Arteta had been with Pep Guardiola since 2016 when the Spaniard arrived at Manchester City from Bayern Munich. Arteta served under Pep

A desperate move to maintain the excitement but for a consequence severe enough to cost the club it's status as they continue to accumulate loses. A quiet summer was predicted for the Spotify Camp Nou landlords but reverse has been the case weeks into the transfer window. Cash has been injected and new players have come in while the club struggle to get some others off the books. It is a summer Barcelona fans thought they would only live in their dreams. The activation of the economic lever has helped the club raise money to fund transfers this summer and Barcelona has seized the opportunity to get big name and talented players. What is an economic lever and how does it work ? This is a condition which results from using borrowed money as a funding source when investing to expand the club’s asset base and generate returns on risk capital. In the case of Barcelona, the Catalan giants had agreed to sell 10 per cent of her future TV-rights income to the American investment company, Si

What would you make of Manchester United’s preseason so far ? There's no denying it has been one impressive run despite their latest disappointment against Aston Villa. This [the disappointment] is one that is expected in order to banish any signs of complacency when the new season gets underway. The team needs a down to earth from their performances and being served three game to the end of preseason is great timing. So far so good. Three Premier League teams played in the course of four preseason games and it is obvious what Erik Ten Hag brings to Manchester United. One can say, he has bring confidence, cohesion, fight and overall beautiful football, that has afforded everyone the chance to play and fight for their places in the team. The improvement in individual and collective performances of the players have also been some of the highlight of what has been a thrilling preseason so far. After only few weeks of training under the Dutchman, United beat Liverpool 4-0 in their firs

Arsenal on Friday officially confirmed the signing of Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City in a £32 million deal on a four year contract. The Ukrainian left City after six years to reunite with former Manchester City assistant manager, Mikel Arteta, who is now the boss at the Emirates. The 25-year-old will wear the No. 35 shirt, previously occupied by Gabriel Martinelli, who has switched to the No. 11 earlier in the summer. Speaking for the first time as the club's latest signing, Zinchenko was asked a lot of questions about his position. Being a versatile player, the fans are eager to know if his arrival won't spell the end for their hopes of signing another midfielder. Oleksandr Zinchenko on why he signed for Arsenal: “First of all, I would like to say this is a boyhood dream come true, because I was a massive fan when I was a kid. Since Thierry Henry and young Cesc Fabregas was playing here, I was just enjoying watching those games, that Arsenal.” “I remember that was in

Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola has confirmed the club is not considering a move for Brazilian star, Neymar Jr this summer. Speculations of a move away from PSG this summer is not going away for Neymar despite the player reiterating his intention of staying in Paris. Chelsea and Manchester City are amongst several clubs believed to be interested in luring the 30-year-old away from current club, PSG, but Pep Guardiola has now denounce the reports. Pep Guardiola on the reports: “I’m sorry but it’s not true. The information is not right, Neymar is an incredible player and the information I have, he’s an incredibly nice guy. But it’s not right.” “Every summer City are going to buy 150 players!” he added. Neymar joined PSG in 2017 for a world record transfer fee and albeit he's been great when available, he's hardly been available when needed. The player himself is not looking to move away and now has a contract that runs out in 2025 which he is looking forward to see if out. Au

Summer signing from Porto Fabio Vieira has aimed a dig at his new Arsenal teammate, Marquinhos about learning a new language in England. 22-year-old Portuguese midfielder, Vieira while responding to questions in an interview revealed that fellow new signing, Marquinhos is worse at English than himself. Fabio Vieira: “I have the Portuguese-speaking guys here. It’s easier for me because they help me with the language. Obviously we talk to each other in Portuguese - but sometimes in English too, because me and Marquinhos need to learn English. His English is worse than mine.” Brazil teenager, Marquinhos also arrived at the Emirates this summer in a £3.5 million deal from Sao Paulo and since both player speak Portuguese, they are bound to get along well. Marquinhos featured in Arsenal's 5-3 win over Nuremberg while Vieira is yet to make his debut for the club due to a minor injury. Arsenal play Orlando City next on Thursday before facing Chelsea on Sunday and head back to London to fac

South Africa and Morocco will meet in the final of this edition of the Women African Cup of Nations following victories in their respective semi final games. South Africa reaches consecutive finals in the Women African Cup of Nations following a 1-0 win over Zambia thanks to Linda Motlhalo’s 94th minute penalty. And evenly contested game at the Mohammad V Sports complex in Casablanca saw both neither side able to find a breakthrough for the entire 90 minutes though chances were created. As the match appeared headed for a draw, Martha Tembo was condemned for a foul on Seoposenwe inside the area and after consulting the VAR monitor, the referee awarded a penalty to the last time beaten finalist. Linda Motlhalo stepped up to beat Musonda from the resulting penalty to give South Africa the narrow victory, which sends them to a consecutive final. Later in the day in Rabat, host nation, Morocco survive a huge upset against nine women Super Falcons of Nigeria on penalties. Without a doubt the

Baby of the league as qualified by team manager, Gbenga Ogunbote, Remo Stars were the real deal in the concluded league season. The Ikenne Warriors enjoyed a historical season, as every good thing that happened to them over the course of the 38 game season is in all likelihood be happening for the first time. Having been eliminated in each of the two seasons they had been promoted to the topflight, Remo Stars made several changes on regaining promotion back into the NPFL and that has paid massive dividends in under a year. The first step was appointing veteran manager, Gbenga Ogunbote, who had just left his role at Sunshine Stars of Akure after leading them to a sixteenth place finish, just able to avoid relegation. From their preseason games, the warning sounds has been made that this team is going to be a threat for oppositions, but not many see them finishing in the top three. Their first game of the season was away to MFM FC. The Southwest derby was the first kickoff of the NPFL se

The NPFL 2021/22 season has come to a close and unlike any other campaign in previous years, it was more fun, competitive, engaged by fans and from here, on can boastfully say, it will only get better. The level of enthusiasm shown by fans was evidence in the number of turn ups in different stadia across the country over the course of the season, while it can also be seen amongst the trending topics on social media platforms, weeks in and out. It is impressive to see such attention given to our domestic league, which has not been so in times past, and with the news it will be broadcasted on television next season, one can tell that the future is truly here for the NPFL. The season kicked off in Lagos, at the ground of MFM FC in Agege and from there, it was known it is going to be a one of a kind season as it was the away side, newly promoted Remo Stars ending the night with a 2-0 win. An away win in the NPFL is something very rare to come by in past seasons but in the just concluded ca

Agreement has been reached between Arsenal and Manchester City for Oleksandr Zinchenko and for the second time this summer, the two clubs are likely to do business again. Ukrainian captain, Zinchenko is set to complete the move to Arsenal in a £30 million deal after being linked with a move out of the Ethiad since the start of the summer. Zinchenko, 25, is an interesting profile for Arsenal in multiple ways in that he is versatile, technical and knows the Arteta way very well, it doesn't get any better than he has Premier League experience and is a serial winner. However, as exciting as the prospect is, there could be one negative that comes with his arrival, knowing Arsenal once they seal this kind of deal. His arrival will mean that of a player who can fill in at left back and in the left midfield position, and that might subsequently end Arsenal's business this summer, feeling confident and com thinking they've fixed the leaks. However, what happens along the season if t

In the later years of Arsene Wenger's reign, it was obvious Arsenal have fallen down the pecking order amongst the big boys in England. Albeit they retained the tag, they were the most vulnerable of the lot and represented the odd one, that can be easily ruled out of challenging for any major silverware. Pending is the start of a sixth season without Champions League football at the Emirates, though the fans cared so much about getting back into the most prestigious club competition in Europe, they should know that they are not at that level yet. Neither were they throughout the past decade. They've been unable to surpass the round of 16 in all those years since losing in the quarter final to Barcelona in the 2009/10 season. Coming down to earth and starting a new project under the tutelage of Mikel Arteta, after the failed appointment of Unai Emery, the club is starting to build an identity again and alongside Edu, it is starting to take shape. The first and second full season

Zambia, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa all reach the semi final of the 2022 edition of the Women's African Cup of Nations following victories in their respective quarter final games. Nigeria maintain the record of reaching the last four of the competition since invention, which has seen them won it eleven times of the possible 13. South Africa continues the search for a first gold in the competition as they see off Tunisia while Zambia and Morocco made multiple history with their semi final birth. Zambia (4) 1-1 (2) Senegal Zambia reaches a first World Cup finals following their quarter final win over Senegal on penalties after a 1-1 draw at the end of extra time on Wednesday evening. After a first half which produced no goal, the deadlock was broken on the stroke of the hour mark as Nguenar Ndiaye heads home following a free-kick from the right. Nine minutes later, Zambia, in the same fashion restored parity but it was thanks to Senegalese goalkeeper, Tening Sene Afa, who spill