Copley – Gyokeres – Rice feature in Arsenal news now today

Here is a roundup of the top Arsenal news, gossip and transfer latest from icfootballnews featuring the likes of Louie Copley, Declan Rice and Viktor Gyokeres that we think you may have missed…

Here is the latest Arsenal transfer news and rumours as the Gunners have confirmed that young midfielder Louie Copley has joined Crawley Town on loan after signing a new deal with the Gunners

Copley joins a Crawley side struggling in League Two. The Sussex outfit have won just four out of their opening 25 league games, leaving them under real threat of slipping out of the Football League.

A statement from ARSENAL on Friday read: “Louie Copley has signed a new professional contract with us and has joined League Two side Crawley Town on loan for the remainder of this season. The 19-year-old joined our academy in July 2019 and went on to sign his first professional contract with us in June 2025.

Copley will be made to wait for his debut for his new club. Crawley are not in action this weekend due to FA Cup action, with their next game pitting them against Notts County at home next weekend.

IcFootballnews Says…

Copley needs to get out there and get some first team minutes, he wants a long and successful career in the game, so going out to clubs like Crawley Town will do him the world of good.

This is a great decision from ARSENAL and hopefully the lad will come back a better player than the one he is right now.

ARTET TO REPLACE GYOKERES?

Former Liverpool star and Pundit Michael Owen has raised doubt over Viktor Gyokeres’ long-term future at Arsenal and suggests Mikel Arteta could be in the market for another new striker next summer.

Gyokeres joined Arsenal in a £64 million deal from Sporting CP last July following an impressive run of 97 goals in 102 matches for the Portuguese side, but the Sweden international has scored just seven goals in 24 appearances, five of which were against Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Burnley and Everton, plus two against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.

Gyokeres failed to register a shot on target in ARSENAL’s goalless draw with Liverpool on Thursday night, and Owen believes that Arteta will be back in the market for a new striker at the end of the season: ‘We were on the pitch four or five minutes before kick-off and we were discussing him [Gyokeres] and I said then, ‘the jury is out’, and I still feel the same way at the moment,’ Owen told Premier League Productions after Arsenal’s draw with Liverpool.

‘Fortunately for Arsenal, they’ve got lots of other players who can score goals. They wanted him [Gyokeres] to put the finishing touches on this team and they’re probably still searching for that person.

‘If the Champions League final was tomorrow night, I’m not sure he would start. They will continue and persist with him, of course, because they paid so much money, you want to give him all the chances.

‘And do you know what? Against Burnley, against Nottingham Forest, against Everton, whoever it might be, he probably is going to score a lot of goals, he can finish, he will be in the box.

‘But to win these games [against Liverpool], you need a bit of class, you just need a bit of class and that’s just where he lacks.

‘There’s a bit of a saying, a flat-track bully, I think he could be that type. Playing at home against lesser teams, he’ll score one, two, maybe even the odd hat-trick, he’ll take penalties, at the end of the season you’ll look at it and probably think, ‘do you know what, he’s got into double figures, not a bad return’, however, when you look closely at it, did he make a difference in the big games, the ones where you really need your big players? And sadly so far, only half the season gone, it’s a ‘no’, and as I say, the jury is definitely still out.

‘They [strikers] are not easy to find. You look in the Premier League at who people have signed over the last season, [Benjamin] Sesko, okay, scored a couple last night [against Burnley] but he’s not hit the ground running, Gyokeres, not really. The Premier League teams are bringing some of the best players on the market from around the world and not many are hitting the ground running.

‘There’s a dearth of centre forwards in world football at the moment. Players like Gyokeres scoring dozens and dozens of goals in a season in Portugal, bring him to the Premier League and it’s a different ball game. There’s not many out there.

‘I feel sorry for Mikel Arteta in a way in that he knows that was a problem and you search around the world, you’ve got a big pot of money to spend, what are the options… there are not many options around as you can quite clearly see. It’s not an easy position to fill at the moment.

‘As we all know, ARSENAL have done so well that it’s probably being papered over the cracks at the minute, but the bottom line is the jury is out, I’m not sure he [Gyokeres] is the long-term answer.’

RICE TIPPED FOR MOVE

Here is the latest transfer news and speculation regarding Arsenal as star Declan Rice has been tipped for a shock transfer move to La Liga side Real Madrid by former Spain international Gaizka Mendieta.

Rice has established himself as one of the best midfielders in the world since he joined ARSENAL from West Ham in a £105m deal in July 2023, and has become one of the main reasons why the Gunners have been so good over the past 12 months.

While Rice is understood to be happy in north London – and there is no indication he is looking to leave the Emirates – Mendieta believes the situation could quickly change if Arsenal don’t start landing trophies, and has tipped the £100M star to make the move to the Spaniards.

‘Declan Rice has a lot of respect in Spain,’ Mendieta told BOYLE Sports, who provide the latest football odds.