Arsenal get major striker boost for star who rejected £50m Tottenham move as Man Utd offer 'turned down'


Arsenal enjoyed a memorable victory on Sunday afternoon as they hammered reigning Premier League champions Manchester City 5-1 at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners were nine points behind Liverpool ahead of the game as the Reds had won 2-0 at Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon.
Mikel Arteta’s side responded strongly to that result by blowing away City in North London with four of their goals coming in a remarkable second half. Manager Mikel Arteta said: “To beat them in the manner that we've done, a lot of things have to go your way. We were very aggressive, we played with a lot of courage with and without the ball, and with the high press, the limits are really, really thin.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“We scored a goal, should have scored another one clearly, and after even if you want it they are that good that sometimes you have to stay deep and defend deep, and suffer, and enjoy those moments as well. We had a bit of luck in certain moments and then we had the opportunity - our intentions, our aggression with the ball, how we wanted to hurt them. The way we finished the actions, exceptional.”
Arsenal in contact with striker
Arsenal are in contact with the camp of Mathys Tel as they look to add a striker to their squad before the 11pm deadline. That is according to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, who reported on X: “Understand Manchester United and Arsenal are both in contact with Mathys Tel’s camp now! Cristiano [Ronaldo] and [Thierry] Henry are two of the main idols for Mathys who’s now considering his options.”
Tel reportedly prefers a move to Old Trafford. He rejected a move to Tottenham Hotspur last week after Spurs had agreed a £50.2m deal with Bayern Munich for the Frenchman. Asked about possible deadline day deals, Arteta said after the win over City: “I don’t know, my phone has been off with the transfer window, forbidden to call me, text me about any of that. My focus is that we have the best preparation we can have for Wednesday and that was the only thing I was interested in.”
Man Utd move ‘increasingly unlikely’
As things stand, Tel is ‘increasingly unlikely’ to join Arsenal’s Premier League rivals Manchester United before the transfer deadline. That is according to Sky Sports Germany, with the way cleared for the Gunners.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdBayern are said to have rejected a loan offer from United for Tel, with the Bundesliga outfit wanting a permanent deal. Bayern director of sport Max Eberl said on Friday: "It's also about generating transfer revenue. Mathys is an incredibly sought-after player. Whether it will be a loan or a sale, we will discuss it in the coming days and hours."
Tel was not part of the squad as Bayern beat Holstein Kiel 4-3 on Saturday. Bayern's sporting director said Christoph Freund said: "We're talking a lot with him. A lot's been going on with the young lad in the past few days. He's only 19. We decided together with him [on Saturday] that there's a lot on his mind, so it makes no sense for him to be involved today. That was discussed very openly with him. But that doesn't mean anything. There's a lot going on right now. Lots of clubs are interested in Mathys. He just needs to think about things today and tomorrow."
Comment Guidelines
National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.