Arsenal are looking to begin November in a rich vein of form after a perfect October, with plenty of business going on behind the scenes at the Emirates Stadium
Arsenal will look to continue their perfect run of form with a trip to Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday. The Gunners had a five-star October, winning all six games throughout the month without conceding a single goal.
A 2-0 victory over Brighton saw Mikel Arteta’s side breeze through to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup in midweek but they were dealt a tough draw with Crystal Palace in the next round.
Due to fixture congestion, where Palace are scheduled to play four games in eight days, that tie could be moved.
However, Arteta isn’t keen on picking a different date. He said: “I don’t think that’s fair because we have other competitions as well, so we have to try to accommodate. We knew at the start of the season the competitions that each club is playing in. I don’t think it would be fair.”
Here, Mirror Football has all the details on the latest news at Arsenal, including a bitter row involving a summer signing.
READ MORE: Arsenal’s Martin Zubimendi at the heart of tense row – ‘Relationship is very bad’READ MORE: Martin Odegaard offers Arsenal injury update as he continues knee ligament recovery
Zubimendi at heart of ‘very bad’ row
Martin Zubimendi is embroiled in a bitter row between his former clubs Real Sociedad and Antiguoko. The midfielder left Sociedad during the summer transfer window to join Arteta’s side.
But The Sun report that Zubimendi’s youth club Antiguoko have gone to court over this very transfer. It is claimed that they are owed £870,000 (€1m) in the deal that took him to north London last summer.
Roberto Montiel, the technical director of Antiguoko, has slammed Sociedad’s actions and claimed his club have been “mistreated”. He said: “Currently, the relationship with Real Sociedad is very bad on their part.
“We had an agreement with Real Sociedad until 2020. Since then, we have an agreement with Athletic Bilbao. When Zubi signed for Real Sociedad, it was agreed that, in the event of a transfer, we would receive 5 per cent up to one million euros in return. With this behaviour, we decided not to renew the agreement with them because we felt mistreated by them.”
Continuing his frustration, Montiel added: “They are obsessed with crushing us at all levels. They want us to be more and more inferior. The Provincial Council of Guipúzcoa has put in place a law that is subject to Real Sociedad of ‘territoriality’.
“Real Sociedad collected the transfer fee from the sale of Martín Zubimendi from Arsenal and has not paid us the five per cent that corresponds to us according to the agreement.
“Real Sociedad has not said anything, and we have made the request in court. And we will have an administrative dispute to reach an agreement. They will maintain their position of not paying us. That money is very important to us because we invest it in our academy.”
Future transfer ‘needs’ to happen
Micah Richards believes Gunners teenage sensation Max Dowman will need to go out on loan. The 15-year-old has sparkled for Arsenal since making his debut at the start of the season and made history by starting against Brighton.
However, Richards is adamant that once Dowman gets older, he will have to find regular minutes elsewhere. Speaking on The Rest is Football, the ex-Manchester City defender said: “He’s special, isn’t he? He’s special.
“I think the difference that I see with him is that normally, you get thrown in at 15-16 because you are physically developed. And he’s not, he’s technically developed, which would say that he’s going to be something special.
“He’s just got a window from 16 to 18 to keep developing at the same rate. And Mikel Arteta comes with these quotes, but he has to be playing also, because you can’t get 30 minutes here and then 90 minutes [there], because other people are developing at a quicker rate than you would be.
“Maybe he needs to go out on loan. I know that’s maybe too early, I don’t think he can go out on loan yet at 15. He’s not going to get the game time.”
Co-host Gary Lineker also believes Dowman needs to gain game time but notes that the teenager can play in various other positions for the Gunners. He added: “But he plays in a position that Saka plays, so he’s not.
“He can play No.10 and he can play the other side. But the manager, the way he is, I would say, he errs on the side of being a little bit more defensive with Saka and then allowing the players to come on.
“He’s not going to play ahead of Saka. But to keep developing, he needs to play. That would be my only worry.”
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Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games next season, an increase of up to 100 more.
