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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Tom Blow

Arsenal news: Granit Xhaka sends pointed message to team-mates after Aaron Ramsdale claim

Arsenal are back in Premier League action on Sunday after their 2-2 draw against European rivals Sporting Lisbon two days ago.

The Gunners were held in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie thanks to goals from Goncalo Inacio and Paulinho. William Saliba did open the scoring for Mikel Arteta's side in Portugal, while an own goal from Hidemasa Morita levelled the tie.

Ahead of this Thursday's second leg at the Emirates, Arsenal must negotiate a tricky Premier League game against Fulham at Craven Cottage. The Gunners are five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table, and they don't want to slip up now.

With that in mind, here are the latest headlines from the Emirates...

Fabregas' Arsenal return clause

Ex-Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has claimed Arsene Wenger refused to re-sign the central midfielder for a second spell at the Emirates.

Fabregas left the Gunners for boyhood club Barcelona in the summer of 2011 but was deemed surplus to requirements three years later. The Spain international then joined Arsenal's rivals Chelsea and won two Premier League titles, among other honours.

Cesc Fabregas was unable to re-join Arsenal from Barcelona (Getty Images)

What do you make of Cesc Fabregas' revelation? Let us know in the comments below!

"I really wanted to go back to the Premier League. In the contract when I signed for Barcelona, we said that, after I leave, Arsenal will have the first option. They had a week to respond," Fabregas told Kammy and Ben's Proper Football Podcast.

"So, obviously we approached Arsenal, we said, 'listen I'm leaving Barcelona and by law, you have a week to decide if you want to take me back or not'."

Click here to read the full story...

Xhaka's "pressure" theory

Granit Xhaka believes Arsenal are learning to live with the "pressure" of being the Premier League's leaders after a telling admission from Aaron Ramsdale.

Speaking after the Sporting game, Xhaka said, "You can see that every team is playing differently against us. They are dropping a lot, sometimes they are pressing us as well, but this is what happens when you are top of the league.

"There is much more pressure than before, for sure. But in general, I think we are doing well. I think there is a good mentality in the team and let’s try to keep that."

Xhaka's comments come just a week after Ramsdale told reporters, "It's definitely a pressure which is so much nicer to have than the opposite side. It's an enjoyment and because not a lot of us have been here before, we don't really know how to handle it."

Click here to read the full story...

Arteta makes Vieira admission

Arteta believes Fabio Vieira should be playing more regularly for Arsenal, but the manager is struggling to make space in his starting XI.

Vieira, 22, joined the Gunners from Porto last summer and started the 2-2 draw against Sporting. Yet the Portugal U21 international has started just twice in the Premier League and fell further down the pecking order following the arrival of Jorginho in January.

Despite this, Arteta has high hopes for Vieira. He told reporters, "I’m really happy with him. I think he deserves more minutes than he’s had, especially in the last two months.

"Obviously, he had a difficult start because he was injured for two months after a surgery and wasn’t at the level that we wanted. But you saw tonight that he was probably our most dangerous player. He was always making things happen. He’s a player that I absolutely love."

Click here to read the full story...

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