Men

England release Ezri Konsa to Arsenal with a quad problem

Konsa has returned to Arsenal for assessment and misses England's Nations League game in Czechia on Tuesday. Thomas Tuchel said the defender took another hit on the quad that caused light trauma, nothing major but not worth the risk.

Also covered by Evening Standard and The Independent.

Riccardo Calafiori scores his first senior Italy goal

Calafiori's looping header put Italy 2-1 ahead in a 3-1 win over Turkey in Nations League Group A1 on Monday night, his first goal for the senior side. Pio Esposito added the third.

Viktor Gyokeres scores the winner for Sweden in Bucharest

Gyokeres got the only goal as Sweden won 1-0 in Romania on Monday, a third win in four Nations League games. He has now scored in each of Sweden's four matches across this international window.

Christos Tzolis faces up to three weeks out with a hamstring injury

Tzolis had a scan in Greece on Friday after pulling up against the Netherlands, and early reports put him out for up to three weeks. That would cover Leeds, Lille, Nottingham Forest and Bayern Munich.

Also covered by The Independent.

Declan Rice expected to start against Leeds after a managed break

Rice withdrew from England duty for load management rather than a new injury, having been dealing with neural hamstring pain radiating into his lower back. He is expected to be fit to start on Saturday.

Also covered by The Independent.

Jurrien Timber's minutes managed carefully on Netherlands duty

Timber started against Greece but was an unused substitute in the 2-1 win over Serbia on Sunday, finishing the break with 88 minutes played. He said the medical staff were clear they did not want to risk a setback.

Also covered by Arsenal.com.

Martin Odegaard assists again as Norway lose in Portugal

Odegaard's free kick delivery set up Kristoffer Ajer's opener before Norway lost 2-1 in Porto, his 15th assist in 16 international appearances. Norway sit bottom of the group and are in danger of relegation from League A.

Myles Lewis-Skelly shortlisted for the 2026 Golden Boy award

Lewis-Skelly is on the shortlist for the award for Europe's best under-21 player, alongside Pau Cubarsi, Estevao and Jorrel Hato. He has made six appearances for Arsenal and three for England this season.

Also covered by The Athletic and Evening Standard.

Arsenal rule out a major Emirates Stadium expansion

Arsenal told the Arsenal Advisory Board they will not pursue a huge scale masterplan for Emirates Stadium and will keep upgrading it in stages, focusing on hospitality, retail, catering and the visitor experience. Reports had suggested a move towards 80,000 seats.

Gabriel and Bruno Guimaraes back early from Brazil duty

Both will be back at London Colney earlier than usual because Brazil played only three matches in this window, the last of them on Saturday. South American players normally return a day or two before a game.

Atletico Madrid and Juventus reported to be interested in Noni Madueke

The Telegraph reports both clubs are long term admirers of Madueke, whose only start this season came in the Carabao Cup win at Ipswich. Arsenal signed him for a reported £52m in 2025 and he is contracted until 2029.

Willian says he asked to leave Arsenal three months after joining

Speaking on The Obi One Podcast, Willian said he had decided by November of his only season that the move was wrong, and that Arteta was a great coach on the pitch but missed the human part of managing a team.

Women

Renee Slegers says she is full of energy as pressure builds

Slegers said she expects to carry on after Sunday's 4-2 defeat at Manchester City left Arsenal 10 points off the top with one win in five WSL games, their worst domestic start since 2014. Travelling fans stayed to applaud her.

Also covered by The Guardian and Arseblog News.

Kim Little breaks the single-club WSL appearance record

Little's start at Manchester City was her 185th WSL appearance for Arsenal, passing Millie Bright's total at Chelsea for the most in the competition for one club. She is 14th on the all time WSL appearance list.

Six Arsenal players in World Cup qualifying play-off action

Leah Williamson, Georgia Stanway and Alessia Russo face Greece with England, Frida Maanum plays Romania, Smilla Holmberg and Stina Blackstenius meet Lithuania, all trying to reach the second round of qualifying for the 2027 World Cup.

Academy

Max Dowman withdraws from the England Under-19s squad

Dowman left the camp on Sunday and returns to London Colney for assessment, with the problem reported to be a contact injury and not thought serious. He had a goal and an assist in three games and was sent off against the United States.

Also covered by Arseblog News.

Phoenix Blayney trains with the Northern Ireland senior squad

Blayney, the 15-year-old Larne goalkeeper who joins Arsenal's 2027/28 scholar intake, trained with Michael O'Neill's senior group on Sunday alongside 15-year-old striker Michael Mulholland.

Three academy players train with Arteta's first team group

Theo Julienne and Elijah Upson joined the main group at London Colney last week and Igor Tyjon also trained in front of Arteta, with the senior squad thinned out by the three week international break.

Social

• u/arsenal on Reddit: The club's Arsenal Explained series on Brendon Batson, the first black player to wear an Arsenal shirt, who came to England from Grenada aged nine and made his debut 10 years later.
• u/chaiyt on Reddit: A long r/Gunners thread on how a mass Manchester City player exodus would warp the transfer market, and who Arsenal might pick up cheaply if it happened.
• u/Kilasatzz on Reddit: From the subreddit's library, an archive post marking a Thierry Henry hat-trick.
• @AAllenSport on Bluesky: Arseblog's Andrew Allen on what Arsenal have changed at Emirates Stadium over the last 20 years, and where the next round of upgrades should be aimed.
• Andy Kelly on Bluesky: The club historian marks 140 years since the members of the Dial Square Cricket Club agreed to form a football team, on 4 October 1886.
• now.arsenal on Bluesky: A report that Odegaard has been given several days off after playing every minute of Norway's four Nations League games, leaving him a full week before Leeds.

Podcasts

• Latte Firm - Arsenal FC x, Arsenal's Injury Concerns. With Phil Costa. (44 min). Phil Costa joins to go through the Tzolis, Havertz and Konsa scares with six games in 16 days ahead.
• Kanu Believe It, Episode 394 - Sham City (1h 7m). Met and Wayne on Manchester City being found guilty of 114 charges, what it means for the league and what punishment should follow.
• Arsenal Editor Podcast, Injuries & Nation States (48 min). The interlull hamstring injuries, the Manchester City case, and what links Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Edu.
• The Arsenal Armchair Podcast, Arsenal Armchair Podcast #20 (19 min). A look back at the weekend's international action for Saka, Gyokeres and Odegaard, and a sluggish week for Arsenal Women.
• The Thing About Arsenal, There's finishing and then there's finishing (51 min). Laura, Luke and Jonny on the Emirates expansion being ruled out and the size of the season ticket waiting list.

On This Day

2022. Eddie Nketiah and Rob Holding scored inside 27 minutes and Fabio Vieira added a late third as Arsenal beat Bodo/Glimt 3-0 in the Europa League group stage, watched by 59,724 at the Emirates. Via Wikipedia

2012. Mohamed Diame put West Ham ahead on 21 minutes at Upton Park before Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott and Santi Cazorla turned it around for a 3-1 Arsenal win. Via Wikipedia

1919. Tommy Lawton, one of England's great centre forwards, was born on this day. He came to Arsenal late in his career and played for the club between 1953 and 1955.