Bukayo Saka & Calafiori fitness update | £75M Duran deal! | Arsenal News Show

Sami Motebelle of the Daily Mail has provided an update on Bakayo Saka's fitness in relation to the game on the weekend against Liverpool. I'm sure everybody has everything crossed that Bakayo Saka is going to be involved. I'm sure Mikel Arteta and his coaching and medical staff will run, not just Bakayo Saka's fitness to the wire, but all the other players. And you'd imagine on Friday or Thursday, whenever the press conference ahead of the game at the weekend is, he'll offer something. But apparently Arsenal, positively, despite what Mikel Arteta said, which he sounded upbeat that Saka would be involved against Bournemouth, and then he sounded very pessimistic about him being involved against Liverpool. I think it's a wait and see thing. We don't know. But apparently Arsenal are not ruling out Bakayo Saka from Sunday's title showdown against Liverpool. After Tuesday night's win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League, head coach Mikel Arteta said it was unlikely Saka would be fit for the visit of Arnslot's league leaders due to a hamstring injury suffered on international duty. But it's understood Saka is hoping to prove his fitness for the clash against the Merseysiders, while Arsenal are willing to give the attacker every opportunity to be available for selection. Now, I think I speak for every Arsenal fan, we hope he can be involved. But if he suffers or aggravates this injury and he's out for the foreseeable future, God forbid we're in trouble. And again, it's annoying that he's got this injury on the international break, such as every injury that's suffered during this period where there's pointless international games. England and Arsenal medical staff are sure the injury is not serious, while Arteta himself claimed last week Saka wouldn't be a long-term absentee. It remains to be seen whether Saka is named in a side-to-face Liverpool, but there's a sense of positivity that he could be available if he doesn't suffer any setbacks ahead of the game, people. Scrolling all the way down, Saka's inclusion would come as a major bonus or boost to Arsenal, who will certainly be without William Saliba due to suspension. Ricardo Calafuri, who as we know, limped off with a knee injury and there's been some rumours around ligament knocks against Shakhtar is a doubt for the game, while medics will make a late call on Timbers' fitness for the game against Liverpool due to a muscular injury. Odegaard is also hoping to return from a long-term ankle problem, but Arteta has expressed pessimism about his hopes of a return against Liverpool. I'm hoping for the best, but praying for the worst where Calafuri's injury is concerned. Timber, we hope he can be fit because we all know we've got some tough games, man. We've got Preston midweek, we've obviously got Liverpool, we have trips to Newcastle away, Chelsea away, Inter Milan away and a bunch of games from now to the end of the year. So let's be hopeful, but have to prepare for the worst. Our depth is really being costed amongst all areas and it adds to the sentiment around a luckluster win over Shakhtar, a defeat to Bournemouth. Arsenal fans are getting a bit rumbly and grumbly. Ricardo Calafuri will undergo a scan today to understand the extent of the injury suffered against Shakhtar last night. Now, I'm no medical man, but whether it's a hamstring, a muscular injury, a knee or an ankle like several of our players, surely it's one where you kind of have to watch the developments. Now, we hope Calafuri is out for weeks, not months. If he is going to be out, we obviously hope that it's just an impact thing, but we don't know people, so prepare for the worst. Earlier today, you would have seen Arsenal, along with Brighton, which is another Premier League club, are also eyeing up a goalkeeper. This time it's young Aston Villa goalkeeper Ole Wozniak. The 20-year-old apparently has been impressive on Villa's development side and his contract is running out. We probably need a second and a third choice goalie. We technically signed three goalies in the summer, but that adds fuel to the fire, people. Moving away from that, the longer that Isak does not sign a new extension like Anthony Gordon at Newcastle and they don't qualify for European football, Arsenal and Chelsea need strikers. Isak is a man that will be in high demand and have a big asking price. He's had a slow start to the season. He did get 21 goals last year. He does love scoring against Spurs and where's the number 14? That's enough for me. Give Me Sport has said he would potentially seek an exit route if Newcastle fail to get European competition. He's under contract until 2028, so he'd have to force through the move to leave Newcastle, not to mention the transfer fee that they would demand of either Arsenal or Chelsea. So it's a dream, but then Lloris keeps bagging and apparently, you know, I'm not gonna lie, the better that I see from Lloris, the goal scoring, the general play, all that stuff, that 100 million euros asking price, 85 million quid. It looks about realistic, but wherever it is that Lloris, et cetera, et cetera, we're going to keep getting linked with strikers. Speaking of strikers, we're linked with John Duran, who's basically signed a new deal at Aston Villa. Apparently Arsenal are targeting him 75 million. We need a striker. Obviously he's going to flag up on the radar, maybe because he's second choice to Oliver Watkins, maybe because we need one, maybe because he's in his early twenties and he's quote unquote, to some degree, primarily proven. Apparently we are targeting him according to reports people, Barcelona and Manchester United, who previously was scouting him when he was in America, all looking at him. Apparently Aston Villa would demand 90 million euros in brackets, 75 million pounds before allowing Duran to leave the club in January. It's easy to link Arsenal with strikers, so I take that with a pinch of salt. On the topic of strikers, we've been linked with Eintracht Frankfurt's Omar Mahmoud, who's doing all right over there. Arsenal could decline the chance to sign Raheem Sterling on a permanent basis with Mikel Arteta considering other targets, says Charles Watts, which should be on brand. I'm not going to lie. You know, we all saw Barcelona. Do they need Nico Williams? Why don't we grab someone else? Unless Raheem Sterling forms out of this world, it's back to Chelsea. Whatever we achieve in the time that you're here, great, essentially. Apparently Spurs, Arsenal, Newcastle, Aston Villa and City are all interested people in the 21-year-old Liam De Laat over at Ibswich people, which City just sold him. I don't know how much to read into that. We have this week also been linked with Embremo people and apparently exploring a potential move in the future with backup needed for Saka. I'd rather sign Embremo on a permanent deal than Raheem Sterling. Arsenal and Chelsea are monitoring Juventus striker Vlahovic as talks over a new contract continues to stall, allegedly. And you would have seen for Barcelona, Rafinha got a hat-trick, looks twice the player, had a tough start to Barcelona, did not look like anything close to the one that got, you know, that was at Leeds that got him this move. I watched it, you know, against Bayern Munich and watched his hat-trick and watched Bayern Munich get demolished by Barcelona. Big up, you lot, that was part of the watch-along. Barcelona apparently still open to selling Rafinha if they receive a suitable offer. And with the form he has been in for Barcelona of late under Hansi Flick, they can demand whatever they want from this individual foreign people. So let me know your thoughts on the injury news. Let me know your thoughts on the transfer news. Do you take it with a pinch of salt? Do you believe it? Do you think it's nonsense? Don't forget to turn on your notification bells, people. Smash the like button. Seems like we've been shadow banned from YouTube, people. So get in the habit of following my platforms, Twitters, et cetera, and checking out YouTube's very own community tab. Most importantly, one love for tuning in. Peace.