Arsenal
Arsenal weigh youth exits and fringe sales to address UEFA squad cost rule
Arsenal consider moving Hale End prospects and fringe first-team players to ease UEFA cost rules…
Arsenal have been one of the most active clubs in the transfer window, and work continues on a potential signing of Ecuador international Piero Hincapié. If that deal is completed, the club could push summer spending above the £300 million mark.
With heavy outlay and no major departures to offset spending, Arsenal face financial management challenges. The Athletic reports that while the club are not at risk of breaching the Premier League’s PSR, they are “sailing ever closer to the wind on UEFA’s squad cost rule.” That assessment has focused attention on how the club can reduce its wage and squad-cost burden before the window closes.
Club sources say the priority is clearing surplus players from the first-team squad. Jakub Kiwior, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Reiss Nelson are all considered expendable and efforts are under way to facilitate their exits. The intention is to generate immediate savings by agreeing loans or sales that lower short-term squad costs.
An alternative route being explored is moving players from the academy. Arsenal could use loan deals or permanent moves for some Hale End graduates to relieve pressure on UEFA calculations. The Athletic highlighted three academy names in particular: 19-year-old Maldini Kacurri, 21-year-old Charles Sagoe Jr. and 19-year-old Ismeal Kabia. With limited first-team opportunities available for those players, the club could look to final-week deals that favour temporary moves or transfers.
Sources suggest a combination of first-team departures and academy exits would give Arsenal the best chance of complying with UEFA’s squad cost rule while preserving the core of the squad built this summer. The club’s activity in the remaining days of the window will determine whether those measures are sufficient.
Arsenal
Eze’s Set-Piece Strike Secures Arsenal a Crucial Victory Over Palace
Eberechi Eze’s set-piece goal settled a tense Emirates tie and stretched Arsenal’s advantage to four
Eberechi Eze produced the decisive moment that extended Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League to four points. His 39th-minute finish, his first for Arsenal in the competition, arrived from a set-piece that opponents will use to tease the club as “Set-Piece FC.” Arsenal supporters, unconcerned by the label, celebrated a single goal and three points that matter more than style.
The goal arrived as Declan Rice curled a free-kick toward Gabriel at the far post. Yeremy Pino had conceded the set-piece after a naïve moment on the right. Adam Wharton was nominally charged with tracking Eze, who began ten yards out and then slipped into the space in front of the penalty spot. Under the watchful eye of the Three Lions head coach Thomas Tuchel, Eze leapt, twisted his body and executed a scissors-like connection that sent the ball beyond Dean Henderson. The finish required athleticism and technique, qualities Arsenal’s recruitment paid for when they signed him for £65 million ($86.6 million) and handed him the No. 10 shirt.
Eze, 27, had previously opened the scoring for Palace in the corresponding fixture last season, and Arsenal’s move to buy him followed evidence of the damage he could do. He had represented Palace 169 times, scored 40 goals, helped them win the FA Cup, and aided their qualification for Europe. Palace earned a reported £40 million profit on him over five years.
The afternoon contained nervy moments. Viktor Gyökeres almost sought a late goal in injury time rather than run down the clock by the corner flag, prompting anxious reactions inside the Emirates. Around 3,000 Palace supporters applauded Eze when his name appeared in the lineups, a reminder of the “love” he will have for the people at Palace “forever.” Arsenal fans, however, were primarily counting points — three more toward a title they have not won in 21 years.
Arsenal
Eze volley and a resolute defence secure 1-0 win for Arsenal over Crystal Palace
Eze’s volley from Declan Rice’s free kick decided defensive encounter as Arsenal kept a clean sheet.
Eberechi Eze’s first-half volley proved decisive as Arsenal closed out a 1–0 victory over Crystal Palace at the Emirates. The goal, from a Declan Rice free kick in the 39th minute, was the only breakthrough of a tight contest and preserved Arsenal’s defensive run.
The opener arrived when Rice’s lofted free kick dropped 15 yards out. Eze reacted first, meeting the loose ball on the volley and converting the chance, described in the report as the first Premier League goal of his Arsenal tenure against his former club. “There is something in your tummy,” Arteta said of the feeling a player has up against his former club. Eze’s strike gave the hosts room to breathe and allowed their attack to flow more freely in the second half.
Defensively Arsenal were compact. David Raya was not unduly tested and, for the sixth half of Premier League football in succession, was not forced into a single save. Gabriel nearly extended the lead five minutes after the interval, crashing a header from a set piece against the crossbar amid penalty-box scramble.
Arsenal’s backline held firm in the closing stages as Dean Henderson and Crystal Palace probed without creating a clear chance. The clean sheet was Arsenal’s 10th of the season.
Player ratings (out of 10):
GK: David Raya — 8.2
RB: Jurriën Timber — 7.4
CB: William Saliba — 6.7
CB: Gabriel — 7.7
LB: Riccardo Calafiori — 7.1
CM: Eberechi Eze — 7.9
CM: Martín Zubimendi — 7.4
CM: Declan Rice — 7.7
RW: Bukayo Saka — 7.1
ST: Viktor Gyökeres — 6.2
LW: Leandro Trossard — 7.1
Substitutes: Cristhian Mosquera (46’ for Saliba) 6.7; Gabriel Martinelli (66’ for Saka) 5.8; Piero Hincapié (82’ for Calafiori) N/A; Mikel Merino (82’ for Rice) N/A; Myles Lewis-Skelly (87’ for Eze) N/A. Subs not used: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Ben White, Christian Nørgaard, Ethan Nwaneri.
Crystal Palace starting XI: Dean Henderson; Chris Richards, Maxence Lacroix, Marc Guéhi; Daniel Muñoz, Adam Wharton, Daichi Kamada, Tyrick Mitchell; Ismaïla Sarr, Yeremy Pino; Jean-Philippe Mateta. Subs used: Eddie Nketiah, Will Hughes, Borna Sosa, Jefferson Lerma, Christantus Uche.
Match statistics: Possession 66%–34%; xG 0.11–0.08; Total shots 3–3; Shots on target 2–0; Passing accuracy 88%–73%; Fouls 3–6; Corners 0–2.
Arsenal
Guardiola: Arsenal and Liverpool Look Set, City Must Stay Close
Guardiola expects Arsenal and Liverpool to drop few points and warned City must remain close. Still.
Pep Guardiola has laid out a clear read of the Premier League landscape, saying he expects Arsenal and Liverpool to concede very few points this season and urging Manchester City to remain within striking distance.
Arsenal sit top after dropping points in just two of their opening eight games, those setbacks being a 1–0 defeat to Liverpool and a 1–1 draw with City. Guardiola suggested the title race may return to the high standards of recent seasons after a summer of heavy investment across the division.
“In the Premier League, I have the feeling now that Arsenal is not going to drop much points. So that is the reality. I have that feeling with Arsenal, with Liverpool as well,” the City manager told assembled media ahead of his side’s trip to Aston Villa on Sunday.
Guardiola defended Liverpool despite recent results. “Now Liverpool lost their last games—not in the Champions League in Frankfurt—but I saw the game against [Manchester] United, they had incredible chances to win the game,” he said.
“So I think Liverpool remain one of the main favourites to do that. And the distance, three, four points at this stage is nothing.
“I always had the feeling that both teams and maybe another one, they will lose few, few points. That’s why we have to be there.”
The “another one” he referenced appears to have been Chelsea, who lost 2–1 to newly promoted Sunderland.
Guardiola mixed sarcasm with resolve when asked about City’s own title hopes, reflecting on the early results. “Well, in the first two games, three games, yeah for sure we [City] are out,” he sniffed. “And Liverpool is already done, and now it looks like Liverpool is done.”
He added a firmer note of intent shortly after. “And I’ll tell you that they will be back.”
The six-time Premier League champion also addressed his critics directly. “I’ve said many times, I know all the pundits, all the specialists or former players, they know everything that is going to happen after five games, I’m not able to do that. So, always I wait for 10, 15 games to know exactly what is going on. ]
