From all indications, Arsenal have won the race, ahead of German Bundesliga outfit Bayern Munich in the Hammarby youngster Emil Roback.

It is claimed that Bayern Munich were a major contender for the signature of the youngster but the Gunners have made many steps to ensure they win the race. Arsenal are reported to have invited the striker to visit the Emirates Stadium and are satisfied with what have been seen of him.

Hammarby Sporting director Jesper Jansson has also confirmed Arsenal’s chance after confirming that talks have been held with the North London club while the player has visited London Colony.

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Arsenal have got Alexander Lacazette and Pierre- Emerick Aubameyang to boast of at the moment, but Emil Roback can be a good investment for the future.

A deal for Emil Roback is also not expected to cost much which makes the deal a possibility as long as the coaches can give their nod to it. He is also likely to begin his career at Arsenal with the Academy team until the end of the season.

There are also chances that he will be with the Mikel Arteta team in the preseason as long as his deal is sealed in a good time.

European football is gearing towards a return in the coming weeks after the enforced break in the 2019/20 season. Coronavirus led to the abrupt break in football across the world.

Before the present campaign was suspended, several strikers have made their mark this season from experienced Bayern Munich and Polish international striker Robert Lewandowski to Leicester City hitman Jamie Vardy to the new kid on the block Erling Haaland. Young Norwegian international Haaland recently changed clubs from Austrian champions Red Bull Salzburg to Borussia Dortmund in the German Bundesliga.

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Here are the leading marksmen in Europe this season:

1. Robert Lewandowski – The Bayern Munich player has scored goals for fun this season. He is the leading goalscorer in both the German Bundesliga and the Champions League. Lewandowski has scored 11 goals in just seven matches plus a return of 25 goals in 23 German Bundesliga games. In total, he has 40 goals in 33 matches in all competitions and only young striker Erling Haaland can match his strike rate in the top European leagues this season.

2. Ciro Immobile – The Italian international has had the best scoring season of his career after 27 league goals in 26 games. Roberto Mancini is the Italian national team manager and he would be hoping the player can transform that impressive goal return to national team level. He has scored 30 goals in 32 games in all competitions for Lazio this term.

3. Erling Haaland – He is the golden boy of European football after a stellar season that started at Red Bull Salzburg in Austria. Haaland scored 32 goals for the Austrian Bundesliga giants before signing for Borussia Dortmund in January 2020. He has hit the ground running at Dortmund with nine goals in his first eight league games. Borussia Dortmund have reaped rewards for their perseverance in the face of the threat of other big clubs like Manchester United and Juventus during the chase for the striker at the start of the year.

Arsenal are reportedly pushing to sign Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng on loan before the end of this January transfer window.

According to the Daily Star, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta wants to sign a defender on loan before the winter transfer window ends this month and German international Jerome Boateng is the main target.

Arteta had previously said that the Gunners will most likely operate in the loan plus free transfer market this month and that’s exactly what’s happening with Jerome Boateng who has made just nine starts for Bayern Munich in the league this season as the Bavarian giants start to prepare for life without him in their team.

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He has been a mainstay of the Bayern Munich defense for the majority of the last decade and was crucial to the German national team at the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament in Brazil which they won by beating Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the final.

Arsenal are a center-back short as a result of the serious knee injury to Calum Chambers and Jerome Boateng could be the man to replace him.

The aforementioned report said that the Gunners will spend big on a central defender in the summer with a £50m transfer for RB Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano in the works.

Barcelona playmaker Philippe Coutinho could make a return to the Premier League at the end of the present season with the Brazilian international player attracting the interest of several English top flight clubs including Manchester United.

The interested Premier League sides will only be able to sign him if German champions Bayern Munich fail to activate the purchase option after the end of his loan spell with the Bavarian giants.

Philippe Coutinho joined Bayern Munich on a season-long loan deal from Spanish La Liga champions Barcelona in the summer and he has had a mixed time at the Allianz Arena since his move to Germany.

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Barcelona would be hoping that Philippe Coutinho will be able to convince Bayern Munich to sign him permanently for the €120m in his loan contract to the club this summer and with performances like the one against Werder Bremen in the league earlier this month, the Brazilian will sign for the Germans permanently.

Philippe Coutinho scored a hattrick and also added two assists as Bayern Munich thrashed their opponents 6-1 at home despite going behind.

If Bayern Munich don’t take up their permanent transfer option, Barcelona would be hoping that the Brazilian finishes this season strongly for them to recoup at least €100m from the €160m spent on his transfer last year.

Apart from Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are also interested in sealing his return to the Premier League after he represented Liverpool for many years before leaving for Barcelona in January 2018.

Two European heavyweights are ready to make Mauricio Pochettino their next manager after he was relieved of his job at Tottenham Hotspur earlier this week.

This is according to the latest reports making the rounds in the British media.

The European heavyweights namely Barcelona and Bayern Munich want to sign Mauricio Pochettino as revealed by the specific publication from The Sun.

Pochettino has also emerged as a surprise contender for the Arsenal job with Spanish tactician Unai Emery hanging on to his job at the moment though it must be pointed out that his allegiance to North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur could be a stumbling block to the Gunners job.

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The recently sacked Spurs manager was constantly linked with both Manchester United and Real Madrid managerial jobs for the better part of the last year.

German champions Bayern Munich parted company with their manager Niko Kovac at the end of last month and are still searching for a new manager with Mauricio Pochettino now a major contender for the post.

Spanish champions Barcelona have struggled at times this season under manager Ernesto Valverde whose contract ends next summer.

Mauricio Pochettino is a major contender but his links with Catalan rivals Espanyol could hinder his appointment.

Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been appointed into his first job since leaving the Gunners last summer.

The Frenchman has been appointed the chief of global football development at FIFA and he will be in charge of football development on the world stage.

Wenger will oversee football development in both men’s and women’s games worldwide including coaching programmes, training programmes and coach education programmes.

The former Arsenal manager has been linked with the vacant Bayern Munich job but the latest development puts an end to those rumours.

His appointment at FIFA was confirmed by the football body on Wednesday.

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Arsene Wenger is not the only manager associated with the vacant Bayern Munich job.

The likes of Ex-Chelsea and Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho, Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino, Paris Saint Germain (PSG) boss Thomas Tuchel, Ex-Juventus manager Maximiliano Allegri and former Schalke 04 boss Ralf Rangnick.

Bayern Munich are on the search for a new permanent manager following the exit of Niko Kovac who was sacked last week shortly after the heavy defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt in the league.

10-man Bayern were thrashed 5-1 by last season’s Europa League semi-finalists but the Bavarian giants have since responded with two straight wins in all competitions.

Former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso is on the managerial shortlist at five-time European champions Bayern Munich according to the latest media reports emanating from Germany.

Bayern Munich are looking for a permanent manager and are expected to make an appointment before the next game scheduled to take place after the international break.

According to the Daily Star, Liverpool legend Xabi Alonso is on the managerial shortlist alongside the likes of Paris Saint Germain (PSG) manager Thomas Tuchel and ex-Juventus and AC Milan boss Maximiliano Allegri.

Bayern Munich have been without a permanent manager since Niko Kovac was shown the way out at the end of last month on the bag of the big loss to Europa League campaigners Eintracht Frankfurt.

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The German champions were beaten 5-1 by their hosts with ten men after Jerome Boateng was given his marching orders.

Niko Kovac spent just more than one season at Bayern Munich following his appointment last summer.

In his first year, the ex-Eintracht Frankfurt boss led Bayern Munich to the double.

He won the league title for the seventh straight season as well as the German Cup via the 3-0 victory over RB Leipzig in the final.

Xabi Alonso was part of the Liverpool squad that won the 2005 Champions League title.

Three teams have already booked their place in the knockout stage of the Champions League this season after the completion of Matchday Four matches.

The trio of Juventus, PSG and Bayern Munich are through to the round of 16 after the end of Matchday Four games.

The group stage has six matchdays and the 32 teams still has two games each to go before it’s completed.

Italian Serie A giants Juventus have a three-point advantage at the top of Group D after the late win over Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow.

The victory took Juventus to 10 points from four Champions League games and also sealed their place in the knockout stage.

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Aaron Ramsey and Aleksei Miranchuk scored for Juventus and Lokomotiv Moscow respectively in the first half which ended in a 1-1.

Douglas Costa came off the bench to scored the winning goal three minutes into added time.

In Group A, French champions PSG maintained their perfect record this season with a slim 1-0 win over Club Brugge FC of Belgium at home courtesy the first-half goal from Mauro Icardi.

PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas saved a penalty to preserve that lead which confirmed the last 16 spot.

German champions Bayern Munich are also through to the last 16 following the 2-0 home win over Greek club Olympiakos in Group B.