3 Sep 2026
Thursday
Process
5 Edition

The Arsenal Sentinel

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

Bukayo Saka takes the match ball home

5 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Match

Arsenal run riot against Sunderland

6‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Transfer targets

Alisson is a medical away from Arsenal

The deal with Shakhtar is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Samu Aghehowa

Arsenal asked and Porto said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

A falling-out at Arsenal

William Saliba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Jurriën Timber signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jurriën Timber commits to Arsenal for another 5 years.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Arsenal and Sunderland in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Player ratings

One of those days for Viktor Gyökeres

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.75, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Bukayo Saka at his very best

Marked 8.30. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Arsenal.

In brief

  • Player ratings Ebere Eze was unplayable
  • Squad 5 new faces, and Arsenal are still learning each other
  • The dugout Jack Smith: “That is the standard”
Back issues
4 Edition

The Arsenal Sentinel

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Market

Arsenal sign Jaka Bijol for $43.1M

The paperwork is done: Jaka Bijol joins from Leeds United in a deal worth $43.1M. Now comes the harder part.

Match

Viktor Gyökeres leads the rout of West Ham United

5‑0, and Viktor Gyökeres took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Arsenal tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Omar Alderete

Arsenal asked and Sunderland said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

A day Viktor Gyökeres will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Transfer targets

Arsenal baulk at the price for Tyrick Mitchell

Crystal Palace wanted more than $6.6M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Market

Arsenal turn down Bournemouth for Cristhian Mosquera

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

A move Jaka Bijol would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Jaka Bijol is living that version at Arsenal, and it tends to show in the first month.

Squad

Words exchanged at Arsenal

Declan Rice and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

A row about effort at Arsenal

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and William Saliba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

3 Edition

The Arsenal Sentinel

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

Door shut on Gianluigi Donnarumma

Arsenal asked and Manchester City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

Myles Lewis-Skelly moves on

Bournemouth pay $48.2M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

Transfer targets

Too dear: Arsenal walk away from Boubacar Kamara

$22.5M was the most the club would pay and Aston Villa were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

Market

Arsenal turn down Juventus for Martin Ødegaard

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

A falling-out at Arsenal

Declan Rice and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Boardroom

5 academy players handed senior numbers at Arsenal

The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.

Squad

Gabriel falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Market

Arsenal promote Andrew Edwards from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Andrew Edwards has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

One of our own: Henry Martin joins the Arsenal first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Henry Martin is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

In brief

2 Edition

The Arsenal Sentinel

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

Arsenal bid $43.1M for Jaka Bijol

The offer went to Leeds United this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Transfer targets

Arsenal bid $34.5M for Omar Alderete

The offer went to Sunderland this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Transfer targets

Arsenal baulk at the price for Rayan

Bournemouth wanted more than $23.9M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Market

Arsenal turn down Wolverhampton for Kai Havertz

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Tempers go at Arsenal

Declan Rice was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Martín Zubimendi stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Martín Zubimendi and Arsenal agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Transfer targets

Arsenal rebuffed over Alex Scott

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bournemouth have kept their man, and Arsenal go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

Nicholas Grant steps up from the Arsenal academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nicholas Grant has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

Arsenal promote Steven Bailey from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Steven Bailey has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

In brief

1 Edition

The Arsenal Sentinel

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

Arsenal make their move for Rayan

$19.9M on the table at Bournemouth. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Market

Arsenal say no — this time

The offer from Valencia for Mikel Merino was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

A move Rafinha would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Rafinha is living that version at Arsenal, and it tends to show in the first month.

Squad

Declan Rice in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Arsenal

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and William Saliba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Arsenal rebuffed over Lewis Hall

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Newcastle United have kept their man, and Arsenal go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Illan Meslier signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Illan Meslier and Arsenal agree another 2 years.

Market

Declan Rice linked with a move away

The name of Declan Rice keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Arsenal say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

Martín Zubimendi asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief