10pm Arsenal transfer news LIVE: Hakimi BOOST, Tierney RETURN, N’Dicka and Firpo links, Partey on Arteta

‘DISGUSTING’ – EXCLUSIVE

Ex-Fifa referee Mark Halsey fears horrific social media abuse will drive Mike Dean and other officials out of football.

Dean has notified Merseyside Police after he and his family were subjected to death threats. The 52-year-old has since asked not to be involved in a Premier League game this weekend.

SunSport’s ref expert Halsey revealed vile abuse contributed to his retirement in 2013 and he fears Dean and more top-flight refs could now follow.

Halsey said: “Many officials past and present, including myself, have suffered from horrific social media abuse. It’s disgusting. In fact, the abuse I received was one of the factors in my decision to quit.

“It affects not just officials, it also hurts their families as well – and the likes of Mike and others may think, ‘Is this worth it?’ Social media platforms should be protecting people.

“Twitter, Instagram and Facebook must do more to police what is allowed to be aired publicly. I don’t think they are doing enough.”

IN A HARRY

Harry Redknapp is ready to miss part of his Soccer Saturday debut this weekend – so he can watch his horse run in a £125,000 race.

Redknapp’s first appearance on the Sky Sports show clashes with Shakem Up’Arry’s contest at Newbury.

Matches will be just past the half-hour mark when Redknapp, 73, says he will nip off to cheer on his horse in the Betfair Hurdle at 3.35.

Racing fanatic Redknapp said: “They asked me about six weeks ago with Jeff Stelling and Paul Merson and the gang, and I said I’d do it.

“But I didn’t know the horse was running.

“I’ll have to find a way [to get out] for five minutes and make sure they’re showing a film of something else so I can watch the race, because I’m not missing it.”

REISS IN PIECES

Reiss Nelson needs more game time at Arsenal, according to former Gunners striker Kevin Campbell.

The midfielder has struggled for game time this season and Campbell told Football Insider a January move away would have done him a favour.

He said: “Reiss Nelson is still in and around the squad and we’ve seen injuries happen and players having to come in and hit the ground running.

“He went on loan last season and done okay, so he’s had a long spell of first-team football.

“But I think he needs more football because he’s not really getting a lot of football at Arsenal.

“It was an interesting one [loan speculation] but it hasn’t quite happened for him.”

CAPTAIN ANONYMOUS

Arsenal skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was blasted for being ‘anonymous’ this season by Tony Cascarino.

The 31-year-old Gabonese has scored just eight times in 22 appearances this season.

After the Gunners went down 1-0 to Aston Villa on the weekend, Cascarino said on talkSPORT: “The biggest disappointment for Arsenal is when you see two players that come on, who have been quality… Willian was poor, he kept giving away the ball and Aubameyang.

“These are two top-quality players who have done a hell of a lot in football that came on and made no impact at all.

“Aubameyang, I didn’t even know he’d really come on. He’s been far too anonymous this year as a player because he is a player that Mikel Arteta can’t afford for him not to change games and make things happen.”

MAT MIC

Arsenal have released intriguing footage of Mat Ryan’s debut against Aston Villa.

The Gunners used audio from pitchside microphones to give fans a glimpse of what it is like to be a Premier League goalkeeper.

CASH GUZZLERS

Arsenal made a profit on just EIGHT of the players who joined the club in the last ten years.

Since 2010, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been the biggest money spinner while Mesut Ozil represented the largest loss.

The Gunners’ transfer policy has been criticised in the past with players often leaving for less money than they were bought for – many after limited contributions to the first team.

And just a quick glance at the top ten losses in the last decade backs up that point. Alex Iwobi, Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie all made the club profit in that time but they arrived before 2010 so have not been included.

Arsenal have also let £163m worth of talent leave on free transfers in just three years. Mesut Ozil left for Fenerbahce in January for nothing even though Arsenal paid £42.3m for him from Real Madrid.

And Shkodran Mustafi was a £36.9m buy from Valencia five years ago and the centre-back has also left on a free for Schalke.

LOWEST RETURN

The Premier League has announced the latest round of Covid-19 testing yielded just TWO positives results – despite nearly 3,000 tests administered.

A whopping 2,930 tests were administered to players and staff members from all 20 clubs in the week of Monday, February 1 to Sunday, February 7.

And stunningly, only two positive tests were returned.

An official statement read: “The Premier League can today confirm that between Monday 1 February and Sunday 7 February, across two rounds of testing, 2,970 players and club staff were tested for COVID-19.

“Of these, there were two new positive tests. Players or club staff who have tested positive will self-isolate for a period of 10 days.

“The Premier League is providing this aggregated information for the purposes of competition integrity and transparency. No specific details as to clubs or individuals will be provided by the League and results will be made public on a weekly basis.”

MAT THE MAN

Former Arsenal ace Adrian Clarke awarded new Gunners keeper Mat Ryan the man-of-the-match award during the North Londoners’ defeat to Aston Villa.

The Australian arrived from Brighton in January and Clarke praised his performance at Villa Park.

RIP TONY

Tony Collins, English football’s first black manager and compiler…