Arsenal's Mikel Arteta tests positive for coronavirus

Arteta

AgegePulse

Sky Sports News’ Geraint Hughes discusses the possible implications on the Premier League and EFL of Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta testing positive for coronavirus
Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has tested positive for coronavirus and their Premier League match against Brighton on Saturday has been cancelled.

Arteta will now self-isolate in line with government health guidelines and it is expected the first-team squad - along with coaching staff - will do the same.


Arteta said: "This is really disappointing but I took the test after feeling poorly. I will be at work as soon as I'm allowed."


Managing director Vinai Venkatesham said: "The health of our people and the wider public is our priority and that is where our focus is.


"We are in active dialogue with all the relevant people to manage this situation appropriately, and we look forward to getting back to training and playing as soon as medical advice allows."

After Arteta's positive test was confirmed on Thursday evening, the Premier League announced it would hold an emergency meeting on Friday morning regarding upcoming fixtures.

A statement said: "In light of Arsenal's announcement tonight confirming that their first team coach Mikel Arteta has tested positive for COVID-19, the Premier League will convene an emergency club meeting tomorrow morning regarding future fixtures."

SkySport

Arsenal sack Unai Emery with Ljungberg taking over as caretaker

AgegePulse Magazine

Emery has left Arsenal with the club eighth in the Premier League – eight points behind the top four, and behind both Burnley and Sheffield United.

The Gunners are on a seven-match winless run that began with the home draw against Crystal Palace on 27 October. They were unlucky to lose out on penalties following a 5-5 Carabao Cup thriller against Liverpool, but then drew at home to Wolves in the league and away at Vitoria Guimaraes in Europe, before being outclassed 2-0 at Leicester.

The final straws proved to be last Saturday’s draw at the Emirates against Southampton, where they were extremely fortunate to get a point, while last night’s 2-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt in front of a sparse crowd showed the fans were voting with their feet.

Last season his side spluttered to fifth in the league after losing their final three games, but he took Arsenal to the Europa League final thanks to a brilliant 7-3 aggregate win over Valencia. However, it all ended with a 4-1 shoeing by Chelsea in Baku.

This season’s opening two victories in the league proved to be false dawns, and Arsenal have only added two more, with four wins from 13 Premier League games, six draws and three defeats.

The Guardian 

Updated

Iwobi is Nigeria's Most Valuable Player in European

Alex Iwobi is now ahead of Wilfred Ndidi as the most valuable Nigerian footballer in Europe.

Arsenal midfielder Alex Iwobi is now the Most Valuable Nigerian footballer in Europe according to the CIES Football Observatory for November.

The 22-year-old who signed a contract extension at the Emirates Stadium is the only Nigerian player abroad that is worth over 50 million euros according to the latest rankings.



The rankings are released for the top five league across Europe and Iwobi is now ahead of Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi who was ranked the Most Valuable Nigerian Player in Europe.

Iwobi overtakes Ndidi
Iwobi’s emergence as the most valuable Nigerian in Europe is no surprise as he has become a regular at Arsenal producing impressive performances for the Gunners.

The Hale Academy graduate is worth €52.4m, as Ndidi’s market value of €79.2m in February 2018 has now dropped to €49.8 million.

The €18.5m reduction in Ndidi’s value has come after he also signed a long-term contract with Leicester City after the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Retired Super Eagles forward Victor Moses is the third most valuable Nigeria, the Chelsea star is worth €37.4m.

Other players in the top five are Leicester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho worth €17.5m and Bordeaux new boy Samuel Kalu worth €8.3m.

Pulse Ng