Arsenal

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Arsenal's Eberechi Eze says it was "special" to start and play 90 minutes in England's 3-0 win over the Czech Republic at Wembley on Tuesday.

Eze started on the left of the Three Lions' attack in the final match of the extended four-game international break in place of the in-form Anthony Gordon.

The 28-year-old is yet to start for the Gunners in the Premier League yet this season, with his two starts coming in the Carabao Cup and Champions League respectively.

"It was a special performance from the team, we knew what we wanted to do," Eze told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily post-match.

"We knew they would give us some types of issues but we did really well to nullify them and play our game and get the win.

"It's always special to play, I always want to play and enjoy my football.

"To have the opportunity today is a big thing for me and is something I will continue to build on. When you haven't played so many minutes sometimes it can take time to build into games but I enjoyed myself and that's all I want to do."

Eze has struggled to nail down a consistent starting position at times since his move to Arsenal from Crystal Palace in the summer of 2025 and was utilised both centrally and out wide last season.

Asked whether he prefers starting down the middle or wide left, Eze added: "I don't mind. They both have pros and cons and come with different challenges. I enjoy both of them, I enjoy finding space and finding ways to score, assist and create things.

"I enjoy both so I don't really mind which one I play."

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Arsenal are serious contenders for the signature of Club Tijuana's 17-year-old Mexican attacking midfielder Gilberto Mora. (Teamtalk), external

Real Madrid have already scouted Alex Scott at least three times with Liverpool, Arsenal and AC Milan also keen. (4-4-2.ch - in German), external

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A number of Premier League clubs want Manchester City to be hit with both "retrospective punishments" and sanctions for the future for their mass financial rule-breaking, sources have told BBC Sport.

An independent commission found City guilty of all charges relating to breaches of the Premier League's financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.

City have appealed against the verdict, while the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is poised to look at the findings to see if there may be any suggestions of potential misconduct.

However, there is said to be a consensus among a group of top-flight club executives that if City's appeal is unsuccessful, the sanctions should make reparations for the period when they broke the rules, while also limiting their powers in future.

There is also a feeling from at least four Premier League boardrooms that a "one-hit" points deduction resulting in relegation to the Championship would be an insufficient punishment given the severity of City's wrongdoing.

Read more on what rival clubs want

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Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres says "it feels very good" to score again for Sweden after netting the winner in their victory over Romania.

Although he has been a bit-part player for the Gunners so far this season - featuring off the bench just twice - the 28-year-old has been in fine form during the international break, scoring four goals in as many matches.

Speaking after the win against Romania, Gyokeres told reporters, as quoted by SVT Sport: "That means we win three games and draw one. It is a good start to the Nations League this year and for me it feels very good."

After scoring in every match so far, Gyokeres has extended the run of consecutive games he has scored in the Nations League to seven.

This season the former Sporting Lisbon striker has been playing second fiddle to Kai Havertz at club level but he will be hoping to feature more given the German striker suffered an injury during the international break.

He could prove a significant influence against Leeds United on Saturday.

Gyokeres scored his first Arsenal goals against the Yorkshire club last season, grabbing a brace in the home game and netting another in the away fixture.

It is a chance for Gyokeres to really stake his claim and give boss Mikel Arteta something to think about once Havertz returns to full fitness.

Atletico Madrid and Juventus are targeting 24-year-old Arsenal and England forward Noni Madueke. (Telegraph - requires subscription), external

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City are all interested in 27-year-old Barcelona and France defender Jules Kounde, with the Spanish club willing to listen to significant offers. (Sport - in Spanish), external

Arsenal, Liverpool, and Borussia Dortmund are interested in Fulham's 19-year-old English attacker Josh King who is valued at £51m. (4-4-2.ch - in German), external

Real Madrid are set to stand firm on their desire not to sell 20-year-old Brazil forward Endrick despite interest from Arsenal and Tottenham. (Teamtalk), external

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England boss Thomas Tuchel says the quad problem that has resulted in Ezri Konsa's withdrawal from the Three Lions squad before Tuesday's Nations League match against the Czech Republic is "nothing major".

Konsa has been ruled out of the fixture at Wembley as a precautionary measure, with the 28-year-old returning to club side Arsenal for treatment.

He played the full 90 minutes in the matches against Spain and Croatia but was left on the bench for the game in between away to the Czech Republic.

"Ezri felt discomfort when he came into camp, played with it against Spain and it got a bit worse so he stayed in camp and tried everything for the match against Czechia but it came too soon," Tuchel said in his news conference on Monday.

"He tried everything for the game in Croatia, got the green light and came through all the training sessions so was ready to play.

"Unfortunately, he got another hit on the quad and that caused a light trauma and we decided not to let him play through this pain, so he left camp to get treatment for both his issues now.

"I think [it is] nothing major but not worth the risk taking."

Konsa has started three of the Gunners' opening five Premier League games, and their Champions League opener against Napoli, since his £50m summer move from Aston Villa.

Arsenal are in the market to sign Turkish winger Kenan Yildiz, 21, from Juventus but face competition from Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. (Corriere dello Sport - in Italian), external

Chelsea are in pole position to sign Alex Scott from Bournemouth, with Liverpool and Arsenal also interested. (Telegraph - subscription required), external

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From starting out at Luton Town aged seven, Jack Wilshere went on to win trophies at Arsenal and represent England at two major tournaments, before having to retire early because of injury problems and moving into coaching.

Now, he is back where he began - at Luton, this time as manager.

Immediately after his playing career ended, he was invited back to Arsenal to coach their youngsters and instantly knew management and coaching was for him.

"I hear stories about people struggling in retirement and I retired on a Monday, and I was in with the [under] 18s on a Tuesday," said Wilshere. "When I first went and walked through the door to coaching, I realised this is going to take over my life, and I need to commit myself to this if I want to improve."

By that time, Mikel Arteta, who had been Wilshere's Arsenal team-mate for five years, was first-team manager.

Arteta guided the Gunners to the Premier League title in 2025-26 - their first time as English champions in 22 years - and Wilshere felt the Spaniard had played a vital role in developing him as a coach.

"I got to see Mikel and how he coached and the influence he was having," added Wilshere. "I would ask him questions, why he's doing certain things, and I started to fall in love with it and how he started to prepare training sessions.

"I'd get an opportunity to practice that with the 18s in the afternoon and it was something I wasn't that good at, and I felt uncomfortable at times.

"I was influenced by Mikel, but then I had to learn how to teach. I had to learn how to get that across, how to plan a session and how to get the outcomes that you wanted.

"I played under some good coaches and was quite good at understanding what a coach wants, but I never dived into 'why is he asking me to do that?'. Mikel really made that clear and I was lucky enough to have a relationship where I could say, 'well, why do you want that?', and he was open enough to share it with me."

Listen to the full interview with Wilshere on BBC Sounds here

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BBC Sport contributor and Arsenal fan Watson says Manchester City should face "the harshest punishment" after they were found guilty of breaking financial rules.

He said: "This is the most damning thing I have ever seen in my entire life.

"This tops off Juventus [the 2006 Calciopoli case]. This tops off all the things that Nottingham Forest and Everton did in the past few seasons.

"It's a shame and it's sad. I always think to myself how low can a club go and these owners don't care about the fans. They don't. If they cared that much about the fans, they would have done it the right way.

"They should have the harshest punishment I will ever see in football."

Manchester City confirmed on Friday they are appealing against the guilty verdict.

Listen to more from Watson below or on BBC Sounds here

Real Madrid are showing an interest in Bayer Leverkusen's 23-year-old England defender Jarell Quansah, who Arsenal made a bid for in the summer and was the subject of an enquiry from Chelsea. (Bild - in German), external

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In this week's edition of The Football Interview, Kelly Somers speaks to former Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, who is now manager of League One side Luton Town.

They speak about his earlier years with the Gunners, what made him want to start coaching and his relationship with Mikel Arteta.

Hit play below to hear the full episode or listen on BBC Sounds here

The Football Interview will be available on BBC One at 12:45 every Saturday during the Premier League season, as well as on BBC iPlayer, BBC Football YouTube and the BBC Sport website and app.

Sami Mokbel and Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport

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Bournemouth are not willing to entertain offers for midfielder Alex Scott during the January transfer window.

The 23-year-old made his senior England debut in Wednesday's 2-0 Nations League win away to Czechia but will be into the final 18 months of his contract come January.

The Cherries have had two contract renewal talks rejected before a summer window in which Scott pushed to leave the Vitality Stadium.

However, they remain steadfast that they have warned interested clubs that they will not welcome any contact over a move until their league objectives have either been achieved or are no longer attainable.

Similarly, Bournemouth would not entertain offers for other key players, including striker Eli Junior Kroupi, who remains sidelined through injury, and winger Rayan.

The club are competing on four fronts this season, including their first-ever European campaign in the Europa League.

Scott has performed well on the south coast and shown no signs of discontent but is known to ultimately want to join one of England's biggest clubs.

Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are among the Premier League clubs known to hold an interest in Scott.

Manchester City and Manchester United, meanwhile, strengthened their midfield options during the summer and are not expected to revive their interest.

Chelsea remain keen to sign a midfielder after seeing a £64m bid for Scott rejected during the summer.

They also missed out on Monaco's Lamine Camara on deadline day, held talks over a move for Roma's Manu Kone and expressed an interest in Fulham's Sander Berge.

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola is also thought to have a positive relationship with his former player Scott. The Anfield club are known to be targeting a midfielder in future transfer windows and retain an interest in Camara.

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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The Premier League has opened a Pandora's box of problems which cannot be closed. However well-intentioned, however morally upright they mean to be, the way the product is perceived around the planet by fans will be negatively affected.

This looks like a gigantic mess, but could also become a bit of a joke, especially if they attempt to rewrite history, and change the winners' names on the Premier League and cup trophies over these past 15 years. I wouldn't want the engraver's job.

I believe financial rules brought in to prioritise financial sustainability were also aimed at limiting the money being spent by the clubs, especially the staggering, ever-inflating sums spent on sometimes fairly average players. It could lead to a de facto salary cap, which many fans would approve of.

The long-term problem for the league is easy to see here: if the top players are then offered significantly more money to play elsewhere, they will be off before you can say 'man on'.

I always thought the Premier League had taken a huge risk going down this regulatory road. As with Manchester City's future, nobody knows what the real long-term ramifications will be.

I have a suspicion it could end up being the greatest own goal in the sport's entire history.

The big take: If City are cast out of England's top leagues, what might the owners do – hang around the lower reaches, or find something else? Wasn't there the idea of a Super League? Keep that thought in the back of your mind.

Pat Nevin writes weekly in the Football Extra newsletter. If you're outside the UK and would like to receive it, sign up here.

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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Most of the time it is not that big a deal if you go into the international break having just lost a club game if I am honest, as teams lose games frequently.

That is just the life of a professional footballer. You have to be able to cope with disappointment as an individual and as a team.

‌Admittedly, players will sometimes say that they want another domestic game quickly, but it is almost always specifically after a 'bad' defeat as opposed to just a run-of-the-mill loss.

‌However, if the team has genuinely played terribly, or lost a game they were expected to win comfortably, you will commonly hear the phrase "we want to have a chance to get back out there and put it right quickly".

‌Players who have had a stinker, even if their team won, might also want to get out again as soon as possible to put it right in front of their fans, or 'reset'. The 'reset' argument is just current football jargon to say, "we will try to get it right next time, and we blew it this week, sorry".

‌The international break can also have the beneficial effect of taking your mind away from a bad defeat. This is not to say that you don't care, it is just that you must compartmentalise your thoughts and feelings. Footballers are among the best at this.

‌You simply cannot go to play for your national team and spend the time brooding about what happened against Brentford last week. That way lies madness and another poor performance, only this time in front of the entire nation.

Pat Nevin writes weekly in the Football Extra newsletter. If you're outside the UK and would like to receive it, sign up here.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona are among the teams interested in striker Erling Haaland and watching Manchester City's situation amid the possibility of sanctions. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external

Meanwhile, the Gunners and Manchester United are monitoring Porto's 22-year-old Portuguese right-back Alberto Costa, but face competition from Paris St-Germain. (Caughtoffside), external

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