YOUNG PLAYERS ARE PRIORITY

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Although Arsene Wenger is all set to receive a huge amount of money to spend in the transfer market by the Arsenal board but, he says that his priority will still be to spot young players with potential and give them opportunities.

The Arsenal academy has always produced some great young players and Wenger has a lot to do with that. He is very good at spotting talents.

Talking to the reporters on this topic yesterday, the Gunners boss said, “If you trust them (the young players) and give them opportunities, they will be keen to repay you. Also, they feel secure and remain loyal to the club. So, these are the advantages.” Continue reading YOUNG PLAYERS ARE PRIORITY →

OZIL UNDER PRESSURE

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Mesut Ozil has come under intense criticism in the last few weeks after a string of disappointing performances for Arsenal, which has also coincided with the club suffering numerous defeats. The club record signing has been excellent for Arsenal in the first half of the season, but he has been looking increasingly laboured since the 4-0 defeat against Liverpool. He was at fault for two of the four goals scored by Liverpool within 20 minutes. Ozil also missed a crucial penalty in the 2-0 defeat against Bayern Munich, which would have given the gunners something to fight in the second leg.

As it is, they are now favourites to get knocked out of the competition just as they suffered at the hands of the German outfit last season. This has led to Arsene Wenger dropping the 24-year-old for the match against Sunderland, which Arsenal managed to comfortably in 4-1. He said after the encounter that Ozil will certainly prove his quality once he returns from his short absence from the team. Wenger is of the opinion that the £ 42 million signing can do with some time out of the limelight.

Ozil was not the only player to get a rest in recent weeks. Wenger had given the entire squad two days off in order to recuperate.

“I never tell Mesut: ‘You have to win us the game,’. He shouldn’t do that. It’s down to the performance of the team. But maybe he feels that a bit in a different way than I do. I just want him to enjoy it and play well. It is difficult for him mentally to be confronted with that pressure every three days and in every single competition. But he will adapt. He had a difficult game [against Bayern] because he missed that penalty and it was on his mind,” said Wenger to www.ilovearsenal.net.

MERTESACKER UNSURE

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The Arsenal defender, Per Mertesacker, has said that it would be great for his club if his countryman Julian Draxler makes his way to the Emirates stadium in the mid season transfer window.

Draxler currently plays for the German club Schalke 04 and because of his recent performances; he has come into the limelight.

Arsene Wenger has not hesitated in spending big amounts on players of late. Even during the summer, he had paid Real Madrid a transfer fee of more than 40 million pounds to buy the German superstar Mesut Ozil and he is believed to be ready to spend a similar amount again to land another talented German player at the Emirates.

However, Arsenal is not the only club which has its eyes on Draxler. The Bundesliga reigning champions Bayern Munich is also in line to grab the 20 years old player and they are not financially weaker than Arsenal.

Draxler’s overall numbers at Schalke 04 look impressive. He has played 89 league matches for his current club and has found the back of the net 14 times.

When Mertesacker was asked about his club being interested in Draxler, he said, “If Julian arrives, it would be fantastic. He has been a fluent scorer for Schalke in the recent past. But, whenever the transfer window opens, a lot of talks go on. I just look forward to what happens.”

“There are already quite a few German guys at the club and people over here really appreciate our potential.”

Currently, in the Arsenal squad, there are 4 German players namely Serge Gnabry, Mesut Ozil, Mertesacker himself and Lukas Podolski.

Arsenal has got 48 points at the moment and they are still leading the league table. Manchester City is not too far behind though with 47 points in the bag.