According to British journalist Daniel Cutts, a major transfer target for new Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has met with his agent in London to discuss the possibility of signing for the Gunners before the end of this month’s winter transfer window.

Manchester City defender John Stones has emerged as a defensive target for Mikel Arteta at Arsenal having worked with him at the Etihad Stadium for the past two years.

John Stones earns £100,000 per week as salary at Manchester City and he is said to be considering a loan move away from the Premier League champions to boost his chance of making it to the 2020 European Championships this summer with the England national team.

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As things stand, John Stones is not a regular at Manchester City and it would be hard for him to make the England squad for Euro 2020.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is close to John Stones and he could help revitalize his career at the Emirates Stadium.

Arteta wants at least one defensive reinforcement this month especially with the injury to Calum Chambers who will miss the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery.

Young defender Kostantinos Mavropanos has left the club on loan to German second-tier club Nurnberg to create another defensive vacuum for Arteta and his coaching crew.

Mikel Arteta might have a big problem with his former boss Pep Guardiola after it was disclosed that the Spaniard has set his sights on one of the defenders at his former club.

Arteta was the assistant manager to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City for three years and six months until December 2019 when he made the decision to accept his first managerial job.

He was appointed the new manager at Arsenal around four weeks ago and the Spaniard is set to return to Manchester City for one of their players according to The Sun.

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Arsenal and Mikel Arteta are in need of defensive reinforcements and their search has led them to Manchester City center-back John Stones who has won the Premier League title for the Citizens in each of his first two seasons at the club following his £50m transfer from Everton.

He has not been in the best of shapes in recent months as the England international has struggled for both form and fitness.

Arsenal have lost center-back Calum Chambers to a serious injury and he’s not expected back until next season, while young defender Kostantinos Mavropanos has left the club for German club Nurnberg on loan thus paving the way for the Gunners to sign a defender most likely on loan.

Arsenal loanee William Saliba has sent a message to his French pal in the Manchester United shortly after the Red Devils were thoroughly beaten by neighbors Manchester City in the Carabao Cup.

Manchester City are the Premier League champions and they have won the last two editions of the Carabao Cup and could make it three wins in a row in the coming weeks.

They are almost in the final of the competition after their dominant display at the home of Manchester United in what was the first leg of their Carabao Cup last four meeting.

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Manchester City beat Manchester United at the Theatre of Dreams to make it a big mountain to climb for the Red Devils ahead of the second leg at the Etihad Stadium on January 29.

Manchester United need to overcome the 3-1 deficit suffered against the Citizens on Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, William Saliba sent a message to Aliou Traore on Instagram.

Both William Saliba and Aliou Traore were both with the France u-18s.

Saliba is on loan at French Ligue 1 side Saint Etienne who sold him to Arsenal last summer in a deal said to be around £27m.

He was loaned back to Saint Etienne for one season.

Manchester City have been been boosted ahead of their Carabao Cup semi-final game with Manchester United on the 7^th of January.

The current English Premier League champions could start defenders, Nicolas Otamendi and Aymeric Laporte when they play against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Former Barcelona  manager, Pep Guardiola has confirmed to newsmen that  both Otamendi and Laporte have returned from injury and are likely to feature for the first team.

Pep Guardiola has this to say:

“It’s good [to have Laporte back in training],” Guardiola told the club’s official website on Monday.

“Everyone apart from Leroy is training. Nico is back. We have an almost full squad. It’s good.”

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Pep Guardiola also added:

“It was important in the first season and the next two and this one. Nothing has changed.

“With that theory, in the seasons we won the Premier League, it wouldn’t matter. That’s not the case. It’s a game we want to play and do well.

“It’s a semi-final. When you play games against your opponent for many years sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Against a top club like United, you can win and lose games.

“I didn’t expect when I arrived here that I would win all the time against Manchester United. We’ve beaten them more than we’ve lost, especially last season when we beat them all the time.

“The derby in Spain was Espanyol and Real Madrid and here United are the derby.

“The derby in the city is important for our fans, but the other top teams are important. I know exactly what it means to the fans.”

Manchester City last game saw them breeze through Port Vale in a 4 – 1 thriller in the FA Cup at the weekend, while Manchester United were held in a goalless draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

The match will start by 9pm.

Manchester United might be without key defender Harry Maguire for the upcoming Carabao Cup semifinal meeting with city rivals Manchester City who are the reigning Premier League champions.

Harry Maguire sustained a knock in the first half of the FA Cup clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the third round but the England national team star managed to battle on with the injury.

His injury status was revealed by club manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who said that they were close to removing Harry Maguire shortly after suffering that knock via a challenge from Wolverhampton Wanderers speedster Adama Traore.

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Solskjaer is hopeful that Harry Maguire will be fit for the Manchester City game in the Carabao Cup later this week.

Manchester United will play hosts to Manchester City at Old Trafford in what’s the first leg of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night nefore the return leg at the Etihad Stadium later this month.

The first and only Manchester Derby played this season ended with a win for Manchester United who edged Manchester City 2-1 in their Premier League outing.

Harry Maguire has been a constant part of the Manchester United starting XI this season following his summer move to Old Trafford in a record £80m deal.

Premier League champions Manchester City are leading the race to sign Nigerian teen sensation Ibrahim Said according to the latest reports emanating from the media in the United Kingdom.

Manchester City are ahead of other Premier League giants like Chelsea and reigning European champions Liverpool for the 17-year-old attacker according to the specific publication from TeamTalk.

Ibrahim Said is on the books of Dabo Babes Academy in Nigeria at the moment.

He hugged the limelight after netting three goals for the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria during the group game with South American nation Ecuador at the 2019 FIFA World Cup tournament.

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Ibrahim Said was recently at the 2019 Ballon d’Or Award ceremony having been awarded as one of the nominees for the Goal of the Tournament at this year’s FIFA U17 World Cup tournament.

Apart from the English clubs, some non-English sides like FC Porto and Sporting Lisbon from the Portuguese first division are also keen to sign the Nigerian teen sensation.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola recently said that the club won’t make any signings in the winter transfer window despite their need for a defender and it remains to be seen whether Ibrahim Said will have to wait till the summer rather than next month for a possible transfer to the Premier League champions provided the other interested parties don’t swoop for him in January.

North London giants Arsenal have a very good opportunity to build on their first win in eight games in the Premier League when they welcome champions Manchester City to the Emirates Stadium in the standout match for week 17 fixtures.

It is a must-win fixture for both teams for different reasons as they chase down different targets this season.

The target for Manchester City is to retain the Premier League title they have won for each of the last two seasons, while Arsenal and their fans are desperate to get back to playing Champions League football.

Manchester City are a whopping 17 points off top spot held by Liverpool and only a win will boost their title challenge which is hanging by a thread.

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On their part, Arsenal are seven points adrift of Chelsea in fourth place after the Blues fell to a shock defeat at the hands of Bournemouth.

Chelsea were beaten 1-0 at home by the Cherries and that has left them in a vulnerable state as far as their position in the top four is concerned.

A win for Arsenal will move them to within four points of London rivals Chelsea.

Arsenal XI vs Manchester City: Bernd Leno; Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Calum Chambers, Sokratis Papasthathopoulos, Sead Kolasinac; Matteo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira; Mesut Ozil, Nicholas Pepe, Gabriel Martinelli; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Summer signing Nicholas Pepe has been declared fit for Arsenal ahead of their Premier League clash with holders Manchester United to hand the Gunners a timely boost before the game.

According to the injury update from Arsenal, Ivorian international star Nicholas Pepe has recovered from injury and he is expected to take his place in the starting XI ahead of the Manchester City game.

Pepe sustained a bruised knee during the last Premier League game, a 3-1 away win at fellow London side West Ham United.

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He suffered the injury following a challenge from West Ham United left-back Aaron Cresswell and still went on to score the second Arsenal goal to put the Gunners 2-1 ahead before he provided the third goal for leading goalscorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as the Gunners ran out 3-1 winners.

Gabriel Martinelli had earlier scored the equaliser for Arsenal in the second half to cancel out the first half advantage from West Ham centre back Angelo Ogbonna.

The West Ham win ended the long wait for victory for the Gunners in nine games in all competitions.

Arsenal signed Nicholas Pepe for a fee of around £72m from French Ligue 1 club Lille this summer and he has scored four goals for his new club till date.