Summary Arsenal secure victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers, maintaining their top position in the Premier League table. Gunners boss Mikel Arteta praises his players' performance and resilience despite a late scare. Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu in talks for a new deal, highlighting his importance to Arteta's plans and warding off interest from other clubs.
Arsenal are enjoying a superb start to the Premier League campaign and are now making significant progress off the pitch regarding a new deal at the Emirates Stadium, according to a report.
Arsenal see off Wolverhampton Wanderers…
On Saturday, Arsenal ensured that they would finish the weekend top of the Premier League table regardless of results elsewhere after goals from Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard were enough to ensure Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Matheus Cunha's reply was nothing more than a consolation for the visitors as the hosts ran out 2-1 winners.
Despite a nervy few minutes towards the end of the clash, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta was delighted with his players' attitude to see an important three points over the line, stating via the club's official website:
"I can only praise the players the way they played, competed, they were excellent, we played against a really good side and we generated so much and conceded almost nothing, the scoreline should’ve been very different."
He then added: "We are really unlucky in certain moments, we hit the post twice or three times I think, and at the end, we made an error close to the goal and in the Premier League, you get punished big time and then it’s game on, but I am really, really happy with how we performed again."
Showing resilience in the final stages, Arsenal have the joint-best defensive record in the division at the time of writing, conceding just 11 times over the course of 2023/24.
David Raya and his backline have shown a steely edge when required this term and one of the Gunners' defensive assets now looks set to commit his future to the club, according to a report.
Takehiro Tomiyasu set for pay rise
According to Football Insider, Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu is in advanced talks over a new deal at the club, which would see the Japan international receive a significant pay rise from his current £55,000 per week contract.
Takehiro Tomiyasu statistics in 2023/24 – all competitions (Transfermarkt)
Appearances
19
Goals
1
Assists
3
Bayern Munich are believed to be keen on Tomiyasu; nevertheless, the versatile defender is happy at the Emirates Stadium and is seen as a key component of Arteta's plans due to his adaptability, which enables him to slot into right-back, left-back and central defensive positions comfortably.
Impressing with his propensity to distribute the ball efficiently, Tomiyasu has recorded a passing accuracy of 85.9 % in the Premier League and averaged around one long pass per match across all competitions (Tomiyasu statistics – WhoScored).
Labelled "terrific" by Arsenal boss Arteta, Tomiyasu has once again emerged from the periphery to be an important contributor for the Gunners and will be needed over the course of the season if his current employers have designs on winning their first league title since 2004.
With his current terms set to expire in 2025, it makes perfect sense for Arsenal to renew Tomiyasu's terms to ward off any interest in his services from elsewhere.
Arsenal closing in on deal to sign £8k-p/w "magnificent talent" for Arteta
The Gunners have reportedly made a breakthrough in their pursuit of a long-term target.
ByChloe ChadwickDec 2, 2023
