Arsenal news: Erling Haaland makes title verdict as Bruno Guimaraes transfer plan failed
Arsenal's Premier League title odds have been judged by Man City star Erling Haaland as the Gunners look to secure back-to-back honoursArsenal find themselves back among the Premier League title favourites as the new season gathers momentum. Last season saw the Gunners end their 22-year search for the league crown but the club hasn't won two in a row in nearly a century.Despite changing hands at the helm, Manchester City look set to push them all the way once again. Enzo Maresca has taken over the reins from Pep Guardiola and has secured a perfect three wins from three thus far in the post.Erling Haaland delivered a 1-0 decider over Coventry City on Saturday and has since commented on the state of play with Arsenal. Mirror Football gathers that and more in a round-up of this week's biggest Arsenal headlines.FOLLOW OUR ARSENAL FB PAGE! Latest Gunners news and more on our dedicated Facebook pageHaaland's Arsenal assessmentAfter his goal kept City's title charge on track, Haaland has spoken about where Arsenal stand in comparison to his side this term. The Sky Blues have won a perfect three from three despite some wobbles under Maresca so far this season.Not only has Guardiola left, but City are dealing with a new-look squad after major changes in the summer. Arsenal, meanwhile, have remained relatively stable and made several upgrades to the team while retaining the core of last term's title-winning side.Commenting on the difference between Arsenal and City right now, Haaland has said the two clubs are in very different states after the transfer window. However, the Norwegian is very pleased with City's business this summer during a period of sweeping change.He told Viaplay prior to Saturday's win: "Arsenal have played together for a long time and have built this up over a longer period, a bit like City had when I first joined."We're still in a kind of rebuilding phase, but the transfer window has been fantastic, I have to say. Well done to the club and the people at the club."First and foremost, they've brought in fantastic footballers, but also great people who fit in really well. So well done to the whole club, and especially Khaldoon [Al Mubarak]."The departures of Rodri, Bernardo Silva and John Stones will have a particularly big impact on City's plans. However, the additions of Enzo Fernandez, Elliot Anderson, Iliman Ndiaye and Ayyoub Bouaddi bring promise to the midfield, especially.Arsenal, meanwhile, added Bruno Guimaraes, Ezri Konsa and Christos Tzolis to immediately boost their starting options. Mikel Arteta's team remains largely untouched otherwise, with the manager hoping that continuity will pay dividends over time.No plan for Guimaraes exitNewcastle sporting director Ross Wilson has conceded that selling Guimaraes to Arsenal was not part of the club's summer plans. The admission highlights just how eager Guimaraes was to join the Gunners cause after two seasons captaining the Magpies.Since his £40million transfer from Lyon in 2022, Guimaraes gained a cult-like reputation in the north-east. It looked as though Newcastle would hold firm over their skipper after Sandro Tonali's £100m move to Tottenham, only to give in and agree a £75m sale to Arsenal.Wilson spoke to TNT Sports before Saturday's draw against Bournemouth and confessed: "Anthony Gordon was always in the plan that he was going to move on. We were delighted for him to get such a prestigious move to Barcelona, that was great."I think it was pretty clear most of the second part of last season that Sandro Tonali was going to move on. And for Bruno Guimaraes, I think it's well documented that wasn't a transfer that we were really comfortable with."So there's no point in us saying here today that it was or wasn't. I thought it was something we had to react to, that was the question, because football is all about reacting to different challenges, and that was a new challenge for us, but one hopefully we reacted to as part of our plan."
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