Arsenal are close to completing the signing of a centre-back, with talks on this front said to be more advanced than the prospective deal for Bruno Guimaraes, according to ESPN Brazil journalist Bruno Andrade.

The Gunners have made multiple offers for Guimaraes now, as they look to pry Newcastle United’s captain away from the north-east and to North London. The latest proposal is said to have been in the region of £70 million, and while there is optimism that an agreement can be reached, it’s understood that this bid was still short of the Magpies’ valuation.

This deal, along with Arsenal’s audacious pursuit of Vinicius Junior, has grabbed the headlines in recent weeks.

However, Andrade claims the North Londoners are much more advanced in negotiations for a different transfer, with an unknown centre-back reportedly closing in on a switch to the Emirates.

Arsenal Closing in on Centre-Back Signing

REUTERS/Phil Noble via Action Images

William Saliba had been carrying a back injury for several months before the issue ended his World Cup in France’s semi-final match against Spain. The defender hobbled off, and while he won’t need surgery, he is expected to miss multiple months of action.

Arsenal have subsequently responded by making centre-back a priority position in the transfer market, despite the noise linking them to the likes of Guimaraes and Vinicius.

Speaking on ESPN Brazil, reporter Bruno Andrarde suggested that the Gunners are actually edging closer to completing the acquisition of a short-term Saliba replacement.

“I don’t have the name here, so I can’t call it an exclusive,” Andrade said. “But speaking to someone involved in Bruno Guimarães’ situation, Arsenal are close to signing a centre-back to solve, for now, the issue created by Saliba’s injury.”

“They haven’t given me the name yet. I’m trying to find out so I can help our English colleagues too, but it’s a deal that will happen even faster than the Bruno Guimarães transfer. It’s really imminent.”

Who Could Arsenal’s Imminent Centre-Back Signing Be?

Arsenal have been linked with a number of centre-backs since news of Saliba’s prolonged absence broke.

John Stones and Ezri Konsa are the two names most prominently linked, although the former is closing in on a switch to Inter Milan, and the deal for the latter appeared too expensive and complicated for it to suddenly be imminent without any prior reporting.

Arsenal are also known to be interested in Sporting’s Zeno Debast, who would make sense given Andrade is based in Portugal. The 22-year-old defender excelled in his first two seasons in the Primeira Liga, and multiple reports have sufraced indicating that the Gunners are monitoring the Belgian.

Elsewhere, Arsenal have also been linked with the likes of Jacobo Ramon, Ivan Fresneda and Jon Martin, all of whom could be the man in question.

Former UFC fighter, Anthony Smith, has added his name to the list of recent UFC legal troubles as he was arrested in Nebraska on Monday night.

Smith had an up-and-down UFC career. Debuting in 2013, he lost his first fight to Antonio Braga Neto by submission and was subsequently let go by the company.

In 2016, Smith re-signed with the UFC, winning his first fight back against Leonardo Augusto Leleco by unanimous decision. Since then, he picked up wins over the likes of Rashad Evans and Maurício Rua.

Despite not winning a title in the company, his main event bout against Jon Jones at UFC 235 in 2019 for the championship was a standout of his career, even if he did fall short in his dreams of becoming light heavyweight champion.

Smith retired from the UFC in April of last year at UFC Kansas City. His bout against Mingyang Zhang ended in the first round by TKO due to the top of the former’s head being cut open. Not only did this mark his retirement, but also three consecutive losses in the sport.

The news of Smith’s recent arrest comes just weeks after ex-fighter Dustin Poirier‘s viral Atlanta airport arrest for public intoxication, in which the former lightweight has since publicly apologised for his actions and committed to a sobriety journey.

Why Anthony Smith Was Arrested

It was reported on Monday night by TMZ that Smith had been arrested by Sarpy County authorities in Nebraska on three alleged charges of domestic violence causing serious bodily harm, terroristic threats, and first-degree false imprisonment.

The charge of domestic violence alone carries a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment if convicted under Nebraskan law. Further comments on the incident have not yet been made by Smith or his team.

As legal proceedings begin, with Smith set to have a bond hearing today, his career outside the Octagon now remains uncertain, with the outcome of this case likely to shape the next chapter of the former light heavyweight challenger’s future.

Tottenham fans have been left worried by growing rumours of a serious injury to one of their star new signings over the last day or so. Excitement among Spurs fans is at a real high after a £237million spending bill that has seen the North London club sign the likes of Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes and Jan Paul van Hecke among others.

Roberto De Zerbi is being backed like no Spurs boss before him, with the club commissioning a club-record spend so far this summer, and it’s expected the spending will continue, leading to an attacking signing or two between now and the end of the window in early September.

In the meantime, Tottenham are currently working on their fitness with pre-season preparations in Australia, specifically in Sydney, and De Zerbi is putting the players through their paces, which will come as no surprise given the fitness demands of the way his teams play the game.

Tottenham’s Mateus Fernandes injury fears eased

via Reuters

After footage emerged of Fernandes sitting out a training session in Australia, fans began to speculate that he might have an injury, and those rumours quickly graduated to talk of a serious injury like an ACL rupture. But according to Alasdair Gold of Football.London, the rumours are unfounded, and there is no concern over a serious injury.

Fernandes is expected to sit out Tottenham’s next pre-season friendly, according to the report, but it part of De Zerbi requiring a high workload of the players who were part of the initial pre-season group, which excluded the World Cup participants.

The hard work required of those players early on has meant the club has had to monitor their fitness levels closely, and those in danger of being overworked, or indeed those with some early summer niggles, will sit out sessions, or even games, to avoid any true risk of a significant injury. Clearly, De Zerbi values the hard work in training more than the pre-season games, and it will be interesting to see what results are yielded, given the injury troubles Tottenham have had over the last couple of years.

But De Zerbi wants fitter and faster, and that’s not an easy process for players during a hard, and usually hot, pre-season. The good news for Spurs fans is that Fernandes appears to be fine.

Reality check for Spurs players

via Reuters

Many Tottenham players have spoken about the ambition shown by De Zerbi about this Spurs project, and even Fernandes himself said when signing: “I spoke with the manager. I think he was the main key for me to join Tottenham and the project. The way he spoke with me, with my family, it was very special… it made the decision easy.”

But they are now realising the hard work required to reach the standards of the Italian boss, and that playing within some styles of play require an elite level of fitness that simply does not come without a relentless training block.