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Nicolas Pepe, in a recent interview with Colininterview has revealed the story behind his Arsenal nightmare under Mikel Arteta, defending the Spaniard, whom he claims helped him in every way. Pepe, who was Arsenal's record signing when he joined from Lille in the summer of 2019 has endured a below par stint before and after the appointment of Arteta and was at the start of last season sent out on loan to OGC Nice. Arsenal manager, Arteta has-been criticized for his treatment of the Ivorian in the media but Pepe has now come out to defend the former Arsenal midfielder. Pepe said; “People say that he identified me as a player that wasn’t up to the level in his team, in his philosophy. It’s completely false. When he arrived, he had (Manchester) City’s philosophy. He had a squad that was filled with quality and backups in every position." "When he spoke to me, he said he counted on me, he wanted me to do this or that, and you have to focus on that. He improved me in every

Best club in the world at the moment and the first English side to win a treble since their city rival, United did 24 years ago in front of more than 90 thousand fans inside the Barcelona's Stadium, Camp Nou, Manchester City have reached the climax but the velour of sustaining that status has become questionable very early into the summer. It is not that English football had not seen a very good side capable of doing the treble since United, it is only due to the competitiveness of the teams, hence, clubs have learnt to sacrifice one competition for another. In years past, since the start of the 2000s to be precise, top teams have settled for playing fringe and Academy players in domestic Cup games so as to not worn out their main players for the major competitions. Fortunately for Pep Guardiola's minions last season, almost every member of their squad is good enough to start in other teams, hence, their was no vast drop in performance whenever the manager rotates the squad. Be

Since news of Arsenal's interest in luring Kai Havertz from Chelsea to the Emirates broke last week, fans have begin to wonder where the German will fit into Mikel Arteta's set up. Obviously, the former Bayer Leverkusen teenager can be deployed in multiple position but if he is to take up a major role in the side, there are only limited spot available to slot into. Given Arsenal's priority in the window and the names set to leave the club this summer, incoming will also determine the plans Arteta has for the 24-year old. Of the roles Kai Havertz will most likely undertake in North London are any of the three attacking positions, either of the two No.8 positions. The German can also play as a No.10, pulling the strings behind the striker, ahead the two central midfield players and flanked by the winners. His years at Chelsea has been overshadowed by the managers's inability to play him to his strengths. Despite playing under multiple Coaches at the club, none of them rea

Ajax have turned down a £30 million Arsenal bid for 22year old defender, Jurrien Timber who has a contract ending in 2025. The Dutch club were able to hold on to the player last summer despite heavy interest from Manchester United but are opened to negotiation this time around. Ajax reportedly values Timber at £50 million hence the reason for rejecting Arsenal's maiden proposal. The Gunners are expected to return with improved offer and are optimistic about getting a deal done. Personal terms are also reportedly agreed with Timber, who has not ruled out a move away from Ajax this summer. Kehinde Hassan Afolabi

Barcelona are interested in a move for Espanyol midfielder, Sergi Darder, who had only committed his future on a long-term just last summer. The 29year old has been with the club since first joining on loan from Lyon in 2017 before finally signing a permanent contract at the end of the loan deal. Darder has been one of the most eye-catching players for bottom table teams in Spain and across all competitions, he has featured for Espanyol 246 times, scoring 25 goals. Darder, who turns 30 later this year has a release clause of €10 million in his contract that runs until 2026, has been reportedly contacted by Barcelona boss, Xavi ahead of a potential move. With Joselu already departed for Real Madrid, losing Darder will be another huge blow for Espanyol as look to make a quick return to the Spanish top-flight but can they hold on to a played their rival is interested in ? Kehinde Hassan Afolabi 

Manchester City midfielder, Bernardo Silva has emerge as the latest big name to be linked with a move to Saudi Arabia. Clubs in the Middle East, which is looking to house some of the biggest names in the beautiful game, are exploring the chances of luring the 28year old Portuguese to Asia. Al Ahli, Al Hilal, Al Ittihad, and Al Nassr are all interested in the former Monaco midfielder, who is already considering moving out of Manchester City in the current window. Bernardo Silva is reported to have received a lucrative offer from top clubs in the country as he is set to make a decision regarding his future, with two years remaining on his contract at the Ethiad. Silva has offers from European clubs, where his priority is to continue. Barcelona, PSG and other clubs are all interested in him but Saudi clubs will hope a good offer can persuade him to go back on his decision and leave Europe this summer. Kehinde Hassan Afolabi

Super Eagles of Nigeria on Sunday evening secured their place in the African Cup of Nations finals coming up in Ivory Coast next year's January following a hard fought win over Sierra Leone in Monrovia. The Jose Peseiro's led side had registered nine points from their first four games of the Group of the qualifiers having suffered a home defeat in the hands of Guinea-Bissau in Nigeria. The three time African champions headed into the clash, knowing a point will be enough to seal their place in the competition's finals but still needed to win to strengthen their chances of qualifying as group winners. They got off to a promising start as Napoli's Victor Osimhen, one of the best strikers around at the moment, fired home from a Kenneth Omeruo's header inside the opening 20 minutes. The lead was doubled two minutes after the half hour mark as Osimhen got his second of the day, and his seventh of the qualifiers to move two ahead of Sadio Mané as the leading goalscorer. A

The good years had been long gone for Arsenal as they struggled to maintain relevance following the departure of the greatest player in their history, Theirry Henry, in 2007. Though the Frenchman admitted the reason he left was to give room for the younger players to star but it was obvious that he had become desperate to win the Champions League, the only major honour that eluded him at the time. Arsenal lost the Champions League final to Barcelona, a team at the start of what went on to be unreal dominance in European club football. Henry joined them a few years later and was able to win the title in 2009. Over the years, the Emirates has been graced by talented players but unfortunately, they have come seldomly and in different periods - thus discouraging those available to commit future. Seyi Emmanuel Adebayor, Francesc Soler Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Robin van Persie, and many more of whom have come around on the last two decades, left having found the club not competitive enough to

Bayern Munich are now favorite to sign South Korean defender, Kim Min-Jae from Napoli, whom United sees as the successor to Harry Maguire in their team. Manchester United has been linked with the 26year old since the latter days of the concluded season while being optimistic that a deal would completed by paying the player's release clause of €50 million. It recent turn of events, Bayern are now front-runners to sign the former Fenerbache man as agreement on personal terms is really close as Min-Jae is really convinced after being presented the Bayern project. Min-Jae arrived in Napoli last summer on a contract until 2025 with option of two more but after one season, he is most likely to be on the move to a bigger stage either it is Bayern or Manchester United that successfully lure him away from Naples. He enjoyed a dream debut season with Gli Azzurri, helping them to a first Scudetto in 33 years while also reaching the UEFA Champions League quarter finals for the first time in th

Arsenal are very interested in signing Kai Havertz from Chelsea this summer. The German, who arrived in the Premier League in 2020 has had a mixed time at Chelsea due to his inconsistency in replicating the performances that made the club spend £71 million for his signature. While Chelsea will not be too reluctant to let the player leave, their demands could make Arsenal look elsewhere and at other options available in the window. According to reports, Chelsea have slapped a price tag of between £70 and £75 million on the 24 year old, a demand that put off Real Madrid, who were previously linked with the player this summer. Madrid were not willing to pay up to £50 million to land the player and the same could be the case for Arsenal, who have several other priorities for the summer. Havertz's Chelsea contract runs until 2025 and the German also loves the idea of moving to the Emirates - but he will not have his wish fulfilled if his current club does not lower their demands. Author

Chelsea came close to sealing a move for Ajax's Edson Alvarez last summer but a deal could not go through in the latter days of the transfer window. The player was willing to move to London and even demanded that Ajax listen to offers from Chelsea, who were willing to part ways with €50 million for his signature but the Dutch giants were adamant. Speaking in an interview after the failed move last year, the Mexican midfielder said; "As a player you're aware that this would change everything. A better league, a better life for you and your family. This is what it's all about for me. I'm here for my love for football but also for my family." The player is now being linked with a move to London but this time, it is West Ham United who are battling with Borussia Dotmund for the player's services. Alvarez has a contract running until 2025 with Ajax and will enter the penultimate year of the agreement when this season gets underway, which means the club are bett

Things are surely not going we'll between Kylian Mbappé and his club, PSG Paris Saint-German at the moment after the player announces to them in a letter, his decision not to activate the one year option in his contract. PSG, who resigned the player following the end of his contract last summer knew this was coming but had hoped things would be different, and that they would be in a position to tie down the 24year old, for at least 2025. Mbappé signed a two year contract with an option of one more but after another underwhelming campaign, which saw them get eliminated from the Champions League round of 16 by Bayern Munich, the Frenchman seems to have had enough. His dream, which was to play for Real Madrid was denied last summer, but the two parties have since settled their differences after Mbappé apologized to Madrid and Perez following the failed move. PSG has however reportedly decided to sell Mbappé this summer as failure to do so will see him leave for free next summer. Repor

Arsenal will table an official opening bid to West Ham United for Midfielder, Declan Rice in the new week as club look to get the deal done in time. The Gunners are optimistic of their chances as the midfielder prefers to remain in England while positive talks have also been held with the Europa Conference League winners, West Ham. Rice will leave the London club this summer as confirmed by club Chairman, David Sullivan after the Conference League final in Prague on Wednesday. 74year old Sullivan said; "We promised him he could go. He set his heart on going. It's not something we want to happen, we offered him £200,000-a-week 18 months ago, he turned it down." Rice is also attracting interest from Bayern Munich but his priority is to remain in England. Mikel Arteta offers that chance for him to achieve that by becoming a part of the project at the Emirates. The deal expected to command a massive fee albeit Rice has a contract ending next summer with West Ham, the club wil

In recent years, the Saudis have become very popular in European football due to how active they are when they takeover a club. Manchester City, PSG Paris Saint-German and Newcastle United of late are clubs that have benefited massively from the otherwise known as oil rich nation, hence have started to reach heights of note. Leagues like the Premier League, French League and other leagues that does not use a salary cap have made it easy for clubs to spend big and even design a massive wage bill for players. It is not so in La Liga, where the percentage spent has to correspond with the percentage earned on a certain level. Highlights why clubs in Spain struggle to register players but it is an instrument to protect the average teams. Of late, European leagues are becoming more tough on the Saudi takeovers, because they feel it is taking the steam out of the game as some teams finds it easy to bully another in the transfer window. Moreso, in the long run, they become so good that they do

Agreement has been reached between Rayo Vallecano and Borussia Dotmund for 18year old highly rated right-back, Ivan Fresneda. Arsenal have been linked with a move for the Spaniard since the winter window as the club look bring in a player in that position so as to allow Ben White return to the center of defense and for rotation reasons. The persistent injuries to Takehiro Tomiyasu left the Mikel Arteta's side in a very difficult position in the second half of the campaign and the youngster had been identified as the solution to the problem. Dortmund has also expressed their interest in the player in the past months and have now agreed a deal worth €20 million until 2028 with Vallecano for Fresneda. The deal is expected to be completed soon and Fresneda will move to the Bundesliga, where he continue his development while Arsenal will now be forced to look elsewhere, with reports also suggesting they are interested in Joao Cancelo. Author : Kehinde Hassan Afolabi

Ligue 1 champion, PSG Paris Saint-German are working on the appointment of Julian Nagelsmann as their new Head Coach with Christophe Galtier expected to leave in the coming days. Former Bayern boss, Negalsmann had been heavily linked with Chelsea but choose to reject the offer from the Premier League side, while a move to Tottenham did not also materialize. PSG, having struggled in all other competitions aside the league this season are not pleased with the services of Galtier and wants a change in management just a year after appointing the Frenchman. 35year old Nagelsmann has a wealth of managerial experience despite his young age and is open to taking up the challenge at PSG, but also wants former Arsenal striker, Thierry Henry to join him as assistance in Paris. Henry, who in the first instance did not want to move PSG due to multiple reasons, some of which are personal is now convinced and is willing to team up with the former Leipzig boss in Paris. The French legend had been repo

Barcelona coach, Xavi Hernández has voiced out the priorities for the LaLiga winners in the summer transfer window while complimenting the club's top players on the back of a good season. The club has been linked with a move for possible players while departures of some important players has also intensified the need to add players in vital positions of the pitch. Long serving players in Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba have said their farewells to the club, while some deadwoods are expected to be taken off the books between now and September. Speaking in an interview, Xavi said: "I need two signings in midfield. I lack an interior and with Busquets' departure, we also need a pivot. This has to be the priority." Players like Martin Zubimendi, Ruben Neves and even Sofyan Amrabat have been linked with Barcelona to take up the role departed by Busquets but the club is yet to confirm a major Breakthrough in any of these deals. Xavi also talked about the main stars in the te

There is no way Chelsea can maximize the potential of their English defender, Levi Colwill by negotiating a deal with Brighton. Moreso, why sell him anyways ? Brighton are preparing a second bid to Chelsea for the 20year old, who impressed while on loan at the AMEX in the 2022-23 season. Colwill was a top rated center back in his days at the Chelsea Academy in Cobham and was sent on loan at the start of the season, where he went on to make 22 appearances for Brighton, with 17 coming in the Premier League. Colwill, who had also impressed when he spent the 2021-22 season on loan with Huddersfield Town in the Championship was able to win hearts while gaining top-flight experience with the Seagulls in a season that ended with the club sealing their first ticket to Europe. Chelsea and fans continued to monitor his progress while away. However, it appears it is the fans who are more concerned with the player's progress as the club doesn't make him feel welcome, base on recent events.

The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) has today, Tuesday published a list of the top 100 most valuable players in the world of football. The top ten on the list comprises of young players, none of whom has reached 25 years of age. Amongst the criteria for valuation is the period left on current contract, which can influence a player's worth. Here is the rating and worth of the players top ten most valuable players in the world 1. Erling Haaland The Norwegian only joined Manchester City last summer and has so far enjoyed a stellar debut campaign with the domestic double winners, who are also on course to win a treble. Haaland, who City contract runs until the summer of 2027 is world's most valuable player at €245 million.  2. Vinicius Júnior  Real Madrid wideman has come of age and has graduated to become one of the best in the world. Moreso, the departure of Karim Benzema this summer means the Brazilian is now the face of the club's attack. At €196 million, Vin