^ ^ Lille set asking price for Arsenal to sign Matias Fernandez-Pardo

Lille forward Matias Fernandez-Pardo is wanted by a number of club (Picture: Getty)

Arsenal have added Lille’s Matias Fernandez-Pardo to their list of targets in their bid to sign a new forward before the transfer window closes.

The Gunners began their Premier League title defence in dominant fashion last Friday, cantering to a 3-0 win over newly promoted Coventry City.

Summer recruit Christos Tzolis impressed on the left-wing and he is already looking to be a a smart replacement for Leandro Trossard who joined Besiktas earlier this month.

Fellow newboys Bruno Guimaraes and Ezri Konsa will add plenty of Premier League experience to the Gunners’ ranks as and when they are deemed ready to feature, but Mikel Arteta remains keen to strengthen his forward line still further ahead of the deadline.

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Arsenal missed out on the signing of Morgan Rogers, who opted to join Chelsea instead, while their pursuit of Vinicius Junior ultimately ended in the Real Madrid star signing a new contract.

The English champions are continuing to monitor what appears to be an untenable situation for Julian Alvarez at Atletico Madrid, but are drawing up contingency plans should the Argentina international either remain at his current club or secure his dream move to Barcelona.

To that end, Arsenal are keeping a close eye on Fernandez-Pardo, who has made no secret of his desire to leave Lille this summer.

The 21-year-old refused to play in a friendly against Everton this summer and had hoped he would be granted a move, especially having seen Ayyoub Bouaddi given permission to join Manchester City.

Matias Fernandez-Pardo wants to leave Lille this summer (Picture: Getty)

Fernandez-Pardo is currently under contract until 2029 and publicly Lille are adamant that he won’t be sold.

‘Matias Fernandez-Pardo is a very important player,’ said sporting director Sylvain Armand, underlining Lille’s stance on Sunday.

‘We’re counting on him. Talking about Mathias leaving isn’t necessarily on the table right now.’

According to Footmercato, however, Lille would consider doing business were they to receive an offer in the region of €70 million with Atletico and RB Leipzig also interested in the Belgium international.

Gabriel Martinelli is set to leave Arsenal (Picture: Getty)

In order to make room in their squad, Arsenal are ready to part company with Gabriel Martinelli.

The long-serving Brazil international has been told he is surplus to requirements by Mikel Arteta having been left out of the last twomatchday squads.

Having rejected a move to Galatasary, Martinelli is now open to moving to t he Saudi Pro League with Al-Hilal set to table an opening offer in the region of £50million.

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^ ^ Gary Neville tells Liverpool struggler to ‘sort himself out’

Andoni Iraola must get more out of Liverpool’s expensive signings (Picture: Getty Images)

Gary Neville feels it is time for Florian Wirtz to start delivering for Liverpool, telling the Germany international to ‘sort himself out’ after another underwhelming performance.

Wirtz arrived at Anfield from Bayer Leverkusen last summer for £116million and has failed to live up to that mammoth price tag since.

The 23-year-old started in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle on Sunday and produced another forgettable performance before being replaced by Alexis Mac Allister on 63 minutes.

That outing at St James’ Park was his 34th Premier League appearance, during which time he has produced five goals and three assists.

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Neville expects a lot more from Wirtz and from striker Alexander Isak, who was also underwhelming on Sunday, but did have the excuse last season of being injured for a significant amount of the campaign.

‘They’re going to have to start playing sooner or later or else, to be fair, they’re going to get quite a lot of criticism,’ the Manchester United legend told Sky Sports. ‘For a start, they’re too nice, and if you’re going to be nice, you’d better be incredible at football.

‘I don’t see the tenacity in Wirtz in particular. I just see a nice player moving around the pitch, not really ever looking like he’s busting a gut to do anything.

Florian Wirtz is yet to justify his enormous transfer fee (Picture: Getty Images)

‘Now, that can happen. Sometimes players have that flow about them, but I want to put a rocket up him. I want to put a rocket up him because there’s ability there, there’s talent there, the understanding of his position.’

He added: ‘Wirtz, he needs to sort himself out. Enough’s enough now, we’ve talked about him enough. He’s young and he’s come to a different country – and I’m all for willing him on.

‘They have both had a bit of a free ride. Obviously Isak was injured last season but Arne Slot loses his job, and Wirtz has played like that, so let’s be clear, this has got me to start some real focus now.

Gary Neville feels Isak and Wirtz must step up to the plate (Picture: PA Wire)

‘I can see a real player there, but can’t keep watching this stuff and he’s been subbed after an hour and they need a goal, but they’re 2-1 down, so no that’s not right.’

The former full-back suggested that Wirtz and Isak would benefit from the German playing in a more advanced position, feeling that he drops deep and drifts wide too much.

The two could create an excellent partnership, but need to be closer on the pitch to do so.

‘Sometimes I think he moves around too much. Sometimes I don’t think he’s close enough to his striker, I don’t think he understands where the game’s going to be won and lost,’ Neville said of Wirtz.

Alexander Isak wasn’t particularly threatening against his old club (Picture: AP Photo)

‘When I played football and No 10s sometimes drifted too deep, or too wide, they would get a right rollicking off our manager.

‘The game’s not going to be won out there, the game’s not going to be won back there, the game’s going to be won in the final third, in and around the box.

‘Combining with your striker, getting crosses in, getting little passes, getting little side passes down the side of the centre-backs, being close enough to your forward so that you can combine with him. And I don’t see him combining with Isak.

‘I just feel like Wirtz has got to think about being involved in the build-up less and think about being a second striker. He’s got to think about his output and what he needs to do, and that is feed Isak with little passes down the side of centre-backs. He might only get the ball two or three times in that position in tight games where teams are lying deep.’

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^ ^ Diego Simeone sends message to Julian Alvarez as Atletico Madrid star makes new Arsenal decision

Julian Alvarez was booed by Atletico Madrid supporters during Sunday’s game against Villarreal (Picture: Shutterstock)

Diego Simeone has urged everyone connected with Atletico Madrid to rally around Julian Alvarez after he was booed by his own supporters on Sunday.

The Argentina international has rendered himself persona non grata after he publicly declared during the World Cup that it was his dream to join Barcelona this summer.

Atletico, however, have remained adamant that their star striker will not be permitted to join their La Liga rivals.

Arsenal, who want to add a star name to their forward line before the window closes, have asked to be kept informed of the 26-year-old’s situation.

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The former Manchester City forward had previously intimated he had little desire to return to the Premier League, but the reception he received on Sunday at the Metropolitano Stadium when he was jeered by the home fans appears to have softened his stance.

The match had been simmering with tension long before the late drama which saw Simeone’s side snatch a late equaliser, with Atletico supporters turning their frustration on Alvarez.

The centre forward was abused while warming up, jeered again when his name was announced among the substitutes and met with louder whistles when he came on in the 66th minute.

Julian Alvarez came on as a substitute in Atletico’s draw against Villarreal (Picture: Getty)

A section of the crowd chanted: ‘Let him leave once and for all, let him leave’.

The hostility followed him beyond the final whistle as he headed straight to the changing room while teammates saluted the fans, drawing another heavy round of boos.

Despite his position appearing to be untenable, Simeone issued a message of support after the game insisting he has a duty of care to a player who has scored 49 goals in his two seasons with the club.

He said: ‘To win titles you need a strike. We’re competing with the players we have. Until today, I was telling the players before going out onto the pitch that as long as they’re on the team, I’m fully committed to them.

The reaction of the Atlético Madrid fans when Julian Alvarez's name was announced at the stadium. 🇪🇸🇦🇷🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/CY2Mu5e3xp

— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Footballtweet) August 23, 2026

‘We need strikers, good strikers. We have him, and we have to take care of him.’

‘I think we all need to be united. Julian is with us on the team, and as long as he’s here, we’re going to support him.

‘We want the best for him because we know what he can contribute. It’s an uncomfortable situation for everyone, but hopefully it will be resolved and we’ll all be happy at the end of the season.’

Grimaldo , who made his first start in LaLiga on Sunday, added: ‘I see him doing well. He’s an incredible striker, it’s a pleasure to play with him. You can see the quality he has, he’s a game-changer.

Julian Alvarez não se despede dos adeptos do Atleti 😬#DAZNLALIGA pic.twitter.com/0WSIhLeMmc

— DAZN Portugal (@DAZNPortugal) August 23, 2026

‘Julian is a great teammate. He’s a fantastic player. We’re with him and we have to support him , and as long as he’s on our team, we’re going to fight for him until the very end.

‘First of all, we’re always stronger together. That’s always been what has defined Atletico, making them different from the rest. He’s one of our players, so we’re going to give our all for him on the pitch and fight together.

‘We all have to be pulling in the same direction, because otherwise, we’ll be divided, and that’s not good.’

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^ ^ Manchester United veteran makes worrying admission after Hull nightmare

Luke Shaw feels preparations were not adequate (Picture: REUTERS)

Luke Shaw says Manchester United did not prepare well enough ahead of their shock opening day defeat to Hull City in the Premier League.

There was plenty of optimism around the Red Devils at the start of the season but they began in terrible fashion with a 2-0 defeat at newly-promoted Hull.

Goals from Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy gave the underdogs the perfect return to the top flight and piled the pressure on Michael Carrick at the earliest opportunity.

Shaw obviously described the result and performance as ‘disappointing’ but surprisingly suggested that preparation was not good enough.

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Given it is the first game of the season, Manchester United fans may be frustrated that not enough work was done to deal with the threats Hull posed.

‘Disappointing, I think we knew Hull’s strengths,’ Shaw told Stan Sports. ‘Set-plays and wide positions and crosses into the box. At times we did defend well, but the goals, set-plays, not good enough. We knew they were going to be good from set-plays and ultimately it’s cost us the three points today.

‘Really disappointing. It’s not us and we knew it was coming. I think as a whole, as a group, collectively, we could prepare better. Especially knowing how good they are at set-plays and what their dangers are.

Hull City celebrated a brilliant return to the top flight (Picture: Getty Images)

‘I think also going forward we were lacking that cutting edge today to score the goals and try to fight our way back into the game.’

The England international made it clear that this is the kind of game the Red Devils should be winning as they look to challenge at the top end of the Premier League table.

‘No excuses at all in this game, but it’s the start of the season and maybe players are finding form a little bit,’ he said. ‘But no way is that an excuse, Manchester United should be coming to Hull and no disrespect to them, but we should be winning the game.’

Michael Carrick’s preparations have been questioned (Picture: Getty Images)

The Tigers’ two goals did come from set-plays, with the ball falling to Ajayi after an Oli McBurnie effort was saved by Senne Lammens from a corner.

The second goal came as Mendy headed in a dangerous free-kick cross from Regan Slater, with Shaw coming in for criticism from Wayne Rooney for his ‘schoolboy’ defending.

A frustrated Bruno Fernandes told TNT Sports: ‘It was the same mistakes we made last season, every away game we give too much of the ball to the opponent.

‘In the first 20 minutes, their goalkeeper was the one with the most touches.

Nobel Mendy makes no mistake with the header! 🎯

Hull double their lead against Man United 😮

📺 Watch live on TNT Sports & HBO Max pic.twitter.com/4wawznTTWZ

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 22, 2026

‘We needed to press more, be more aggressive, and then again we need to work on set-plays and not concede these type of goals.

‘Against these types of teams, they are waiting for that moment. We knew before the game set-pieces would be a big part of their game.’

Manager Carrick tried to be more positive, adding: ‘We did some good things today and it will get lost. We have to find answers but because we lose one game, it doesn’t mean everything needs dissecting.’

Manchester United return to action against another newly-promoted team, Ipswich Town, on Sunday August 30.

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