1.45pm Arsenal transfer news LIVE: Diego Costa mystery offer, Van Aanholt wanted, Maitland-Niles to Southampton OFF

MOVE LOCKED?

Arsenal youngster Joe Willock has been linked with a loan move to Newcastle on transfer deadline day.

According to Sky Sports, the Gunners are willing to let Willock go in order to get more first-team football.

The young midfielder has not started in the Premier League since November 29.

And the emergence of Emile Smith-Rowe as well as the arrival of Martin Odegaard have significantly reduced Willock’s chances of returning to Mikel Arteta’s plans

YOUNG GUN

Arsenal youngster Folarin Balogun is going to stay in north London until the end of the season.

Balogun will be out of contract in the summer and thus the Gunners were willing to listen to offers for the young centre-forward.

However, AllNigeriaSoccer report that the 19-year-old will be staying put at the Emirates.

That is because interested parties are willing to wait until the end of the campaign for a free transfer

COMPARE

Often the biggest source of fans’ anger and confusion, the club have sometimes splashed the cash and sometimes appeared ludicrously stingy.

For every Thierry Henry, there’s a Kim Kallstrom.

SunSport have rated and slated the Gunners most notorious January deals.

SEE OUR THOUGHTS HERE

CHEAP SHOT

The earlier links in the window with Diego Costa have meant the latest rumours linking him with them again.

An unnamed top six club have said to offer him a deal until the end of the season, with the player only wanting an 18-month deal at least.

Paddy Power haven’t missed with this one…

HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLVES

Mikel Arteta believes his side has improved significantly since they last faced Wolves.

Wolves won 2-1 at the Emirates at the end of November during a spell of five defeats in eight games.

But despite expecting a tough game, Arteta says his team have ‘improved a lot’ since then.

Definitely results are much better. We improved a lot of terms of getting many more points from our games. It was a tough game back then because we started the game a little bit slow, we conceded a goal, we scored a goal and then we dominated the game. But then we conceded another goal in one of the counter-attacks. We’re expecting a tough game. They’re a side that have improved so much over the years, that have picked up some big results against the big teams, so it will be a nice test for us.

Mikel Arteta

FOXY BINGO

Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers refused to be drawn into speculation that Arsenal were blocking a move for Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

It is believed the Gunners don’t want to sell to a top six rival this window.

There’s lots of names and I’m sure there will be more as the day goes on. I’m not naïve enough to start answering on specific names. We’ll see what the day unfolds for us.

Brendan Rodgers

MAN OF THE MITCH

Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp’s son Mitchel has signed for Watford on a six-month deal.

The 22-year-old has linked up with the Hornets’ Under-23s after an unsuccessful trial with the Gunners in November.

Bergkamp junior spent a week with Steve Bould’s Under-23s at London Colney but was not kept on.

There is an option to extend his time at Watford if he impresses at the Championship side.

Bergkamp is the latest in a long line of sons who have tried to emulate the footballing careers of their famous fathers, including Phil Neville’s son Harvey and Paolo Maldini’s boy Daniel.

MUSTAFI AGREES

Gunners outcast Shkodran Mustafi has agreed terms with Schalke in a deal that could allow Ozan Kabak to join Liverpool, reports say.

With the centre-back looking to move, Mustafi has accepted a six-month deal to return to Germany with Schalke, according to Sky Sports.

Arteta opened up about players leaving on deadline day to free up space in his squad.

He said: “There are some conversations going on at the moment.

“The club is willing to help some of them, whether we find a solution or not, I don’t know.”

RE-ASSESS

Arteta was also asked this morning if there had been a reassessment of the goals for this season after a run of good form.

It’s one defeat in nine for the Gunners – that coming in the FA Cup.

Obviously we took some pressure off ourselves with the situation we were in the table, but we know there is a long way to go, a lot of points to catch up with the top teams but we have to go game by game, and if we keep performing in the way we are at the moment, we will be in a good position at the end of the season. But we have to be very consistent to have any chance of achieving any top spot.

Mikel Arteta

PVA GLUED TO PALACE

Roy Hodgson said he would be “surprised” if a move developed that took van Aanholt to Arsenal from Crystal Palace.

Arteta is said to be on the hunt for a back-up left-back for Kieran Tierney but it could be that Cedric wil provide cover in that area.

No, nothing I know about. Is he good enough to play for Arsenal? Yes, but it would be a real surprise to me. This is where he is contracted and where I expect him to stay.

Roy Hodgson

MAYBE MORE?

Although it may be that he isn’t done today.

He was asked earlier at his press conference if he was happy with what he had done this January.

We had some priorities that we wanted to get done, we have managed to have some done, some others we haven’t yet, so let’s wait and see how things develop today and what we are able to do, and what we aren’t.

Mikel Arteta

ALTERNATIVE BETTER?

Is this Arsenal’s strongest XI? How will they fare the remainder of this campaign?

STARTING MARTIN?

Mikel Arteta was asked if Martin Odegaard could start against Wolves tomorrow night.

Let’s see today how…