“Arteta has pressured me to sign this striker and I hope he don’t end up like Kai Havertz…If he does I’ll sack him”: Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke has signed Mikel Arteta’s dream striker and fired him a strong warning

Rejoice, the final international break of the 2024-25 season is over – and it’s approaching crunch time for Arsenal.

The Gunners have a mountain to climb in the Premier League title race and some would say the same goes for their Champions League hopes.

Mikel Arteta’s side will return to action against Fulham next Tuesday, with the chance to move within nine points of leaders Liverpool. The odds are stacked against Arsenal but Arteta wants to push their title rivals to the wire.

Following next Saturday’s trip to Everton comes the biggest game of Arsenal’s season – until the second leg, of course. The Gunners will host 15-time European champions Real Madrid at the Emirates in the Champions League quarter-finals before travelling to Spain seven days later.

But it’s just on the pitch where thing are heating up, with Arsenal due to announce a new sporting director in the coming months if not weeks. Edu’s shock departure in November has paved the way for former Atletico Madrid chief Andrea Berta to step in, and one Arsenal legend believes his first signing has already been completed.

Here’s a round-up of the latest news from the Emirates.

Zubimendi’s agent ‘listening to offers’
Martin Zubimendi’s agent is continuing to listen to offers for the in-demand Real Sociedad midfielder, despite the expectation that he’ll be moving to Arsenal. Zubimendi, 26, has reportedly agreed personal terms with the Gunners, who are willing to pay his £51million release clause.

But in recent days, Real Madrid have cropped up as a potential threat, despite Arsenal being in pole position since January. El Partidazo de COPE claim that Zubimendi’s agent won’t rebuff approaches for the Spain international and report that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is making his move.

Keown ‘suggests’ striker has already been signed

We may be months away from the summer transfer window opening but Martin Keown believes that Arsenal have already agreed a deal to sign a new striker. The Gunners’ decision not to sign a No.9 in January was heavily criticised and even Arteta realised that he was ‘disappointed’ with the outcome.

“There’s a new director of football now. You’ve got to go after the players, a good free transfer. You can’t just keep spending money on the obvious Declan Rice. But you can be certain this summer they will be buying a striker, without doubt,” Keown claimed on TNT Sports.

“I would suggest that there is already a player bought and it’s already done from an Arsenal point of view. They won’t make that mistake again.”

Bernabeu looked at amid Emirates revamp talks

It’s been suggested that Arsenal could expand the Emirates in the same way which Real Madrid have redeveloped the Bernabeu. The Evening Standard report that talks remain at an exploratory stage, with the Gunners board still evaluating what’s feasible or not.

The Bernabeu has been looked at, with Real Madrid upgrading their stadium for around £1.51billion between 2019 and 2024. Arsenal co-chair Josh Kroenke revealed last year that ‘internal conversations’ about expanding or upgrading the Emirates had taken place