All the latest news and gossip from the past 24 hours at The Emirates Stadium.
Arsene Wenger was recently asked questions on why he never snapped up Yaya Toure on a permanent deal – despite the Ivorian being on trial at the club as a youngster.
He suggested that Toure did not want to wait for his international clearance to make a move – and instead headed to Ukraine.
But Toure seemed to suggest today that it was in fact Wenger’s inability to play him in midfield that was the issue:
“When I was in Belgium, I went to Arsenal for a couple of months to give me some training and I remember my first chat I had with Arsene. He asked me, ‘Which position do you want to play?’ I said ‘Midfielder.’ He said, “Why? When I saw you training, for me, you looked more like a striker. I said ‘that’s why you always put me up front, move me, I want to play in midfield like Patrick (Vieira).’ I said ‘I can play like Patrick, I can be better than Patrick’ and he said ‘No, no, it’s impossible.”
Wenger has given an updated version of team news for the Everton game – confirming both Aaron Ramsey and Nacho Monreal are back to full fitness.
And he was clearly very happy to welcome back the Welsh international:
“He has worked very hard for a while in training now. What he lacks is competition. He’s an all-round midfielder who can score goals and always drives the team forward. He’s a real box-to-box player so it’s good to have him back.”
Wenger also called this weekend’s fixture a six-pointer – telling media:
“For us it’s very difficult to imagine the impact it will have on finishing fourth, but it’s a game we want to win. Everton have won against Swansea in the last minute and they have a never-give-up attitude, which gives them credit. They still have a difficult programme as well – like all of us they have to play a lot of difficult teams.”
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