Arsenal ‘initiate contact’ with Tottenham transfer target after Thierry Henry endorsement
Arsenal have reportedly enquired about the availability of Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher.
The Gunners are expected to welcome new arrivals in all outfield departments this summer, with Jorrel Hato identified as a defensive target and countless striker options being considered after Benjamin Sesko’s decision to remain with RB Leipzig.
Several targets have also been identified in midfield, with AS reporting that Arsenal have made contact with London rivals Chelsea to explore the possibility of signing Gallagher – who is firmly in the shop window at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues are open to offloading the England international to improve their financial outlook amid the strict Profit and Sustainability Rules. The midfielder is homegrown and thus represents ‘pure profit’ on their balance sheets.
Gallagher is not short of suitors, with Aston Villa and Tottenham both desperate to secure the signature of the 24-year-old, who is said to be valued at £42million by the higher powers at Chelsea.
The playmaker is out of contract with his boyhood side in 2025 and reports say that talks over a new deal have shown no signs of progressing due to the financial demands of the player.
Arsenal are expected to offload several fringe stars over the coming months to bolster their transfer budget and therefore may not be deterred by the wages of Gallagher – especially as he can play in several different roles in midfield
Gunners legend Thierry Henry has sung the praises of Gallagher previously, whilst he was out on loan at Crystal Palace in 2021. Speaking after he impressed against Brighton, the ex-France striker said: “The way he puts pressure, the way he makes his team play, he makes the box. He has an eye for a goal at the minute, he’s way higher than when he used to play for West Brom on loan from Chelsea.
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England winning Euro 2024 could cause carnage for Arsenal and Man City
“I think he’s a player that loves to be unleashed, so let him go, let him go and put pressure, let him go and play, let him go and tackle. I thought he was outstanding.”
Tottenham are long-term admirers of Gallagher and therefore seeing him head to the other side of north London would be a bitter pill to swallow for manager Ange Postecoglou, who is said to be the driving force behind his side’s pursuit.
Serbia threaten to walk away from Euro 2024 as they submit request to UEFA
The General Secretary of the Football Association of Serbia has submitted a request for UEFA to punish both Croatia and Albania.
Jack Kenmare
Jack Kenmare
Serbia have threatened to pull out of Euro 2024 after submitting a request to UEFA.
Dragan Stojkovic’s side, who are taking part in their first European Championship tournament as an independent nation, lost their Group C opener against England.
They are scheduled to face Slovenia at the Allianz Arena in Munich on Thursday afternoon but their future at this summer’s competition has been cast into doubt.
Serbia are claiming that fellow Balkan nations Croatia and Albania fans chanted “kill, kill, kill the Serb” during Wednesday’s 2-2 draw at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg.
Jovan Surbatovic, the General Secretary of the Football Association of Serbia, has submitted a request for UEFA to punish both Croatia and Albania for the alleged chants in the 59th minute.
In fact, he has warned that Serbia are ready to walk away from the competition if no action is taken.
“First of all, I want to thank our fans for their support in the match against England and I hope we will beat Slovenia,” he told via RTS.
What happened is scandalous and we will ask UEFA for sanctions, even if it means not continuing the competition.
“We are sure that they will be punished, because they have already responded to our appeal to remove the so-called journalist from Albania from the championship.”
Surbatovic added: “We will demand from UEFA to punish the federations of both selections. We do not want to participate in that, but if UEFA does not punish them, we will think how will we proceed.
We were punished for isolated cases and our fans behaved much better than the others. One fan was punished for racist insults and we don’t want it to be attributed to others.
“We Serbs are gentlemen and we have an open heart, so I appeal to the fans to remain gentlemen.”
So what happens if Serbia walk away from Euro 2024? They are scheduled to face Slovenia on Thursday but if they do pull out, their final group stage game against Denmark would, of course, fall through.
According to UEFA laws, Denmark would be given an automatic 3-0 win, with Serbia being handed a large fine.
As mentioned earlier, a journalist has received an immediate ban from all Euro 2024 matches after making an incendiary political gesture during England’s encounter with Serbia.
emerged on Monday that UEFA banned Kosovar journalist Arlind Sadiku from reporting on Euro 2024 games after he directed an Albanian ‘eagle’ hand gesture towards Serbian fans during a live broadcast before their match with England.
As per the Guardian, Sadiku, who reports for the television channel Artmotion, was refused entry to Albania’s press conference on Tuesday and has since had his accreditation confiscated.
Artmotion was allegedly told by UEFA that Sadiku’s pass had been cancelled with immediate effect due to “misconduct” at the match between Serbia and England.
Sadiku had been reporting in a position in front of thousands of Serbia fans, with many chanting the phrase “Kosovo je srce Srbije”, which translates to “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia”.
Towards the end of his television segment, he looked towards that crowd and made the ‘eagle’ gesture with his hands.
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