Latest news with #CristhianMosquera
New York Times
31-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Arsenal 0-1 Tottenham: First look at Gyokeres, Mosquera, going direct and defensive set-piece issues
Arsenal ended their pre-season tour of Singapore and Hong Kong with a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the first north London derby played abroad, but gave a couple of new signings their debuts. Pape Matar Sarr scored the game's only goal just before half-time from inside the centre circle, capitalising on Myles Lewis-Skelly being caught in possession. Thomas Frank's side hit the post twice before this, while Arsenal did not truly test Guglielmo Vicario in Spurs' goal. Advertisement Viktor Gyokeres made his first appearance for Arsenal since signing for a €63.5million fixed fee (£55m, $75m) with a further €10m possible in potential add-ons from Sporting CP last week. He replaced Kai Havertz up front. Cristhian Mosquera, signed from Valencia for an initial fee of £13million, also made his Arsenal debut. Their next match will be back in north London, as they welcome Villarreal to the Emirates Stadium on August 6. Art de Roché breaks down the main talking points from Arsenal's second victory of pre-season. It probably says everything about the game that the most exciting moment came in the 77th minute. It wasn't a goal, a shot at goal or even a nice piece of skill. It was the long-awaited debuts of Mosquera and marquee summer signing Gyokeres. The game was already set into a pattern of attack versus defence as Spurs protected their one-goal lead, which left Gyokeres to feed off crumbs up front. He showed good awareness in one action to hold the ball up and lay it off to Martin Zubimendi on the edge of the box, but even that shot was closed down by a disciplined Tottenham defence. With just under a week until Arsenal's next friendly, at home against Villarreal, that should give him time to earn more minutes in his second appearance. As for Mosquera, a key part of the attraction to him is his versatility. In the past two seasons, he played one as a right-sided centre-back and the other as a left-sided centre-back. That appeared helpful as it could give both William Saliba and Gabriel cover. With Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori both injured, it was Jakub Kiwior who needed a rest towards the end of the game. Saliba then moved across to the left rather than Mosquera filling in there, which was interesting and made sense. Of that pairing, Saliba is more experienced and would need to guide his understudy — which happened when Spurs tried to counter late on. Saliba has also played on that side for France and Saint-Etienne, so it is not a foreign role to him. For Arteta, that may be important at the start of the season with the current injuries on the left side of defence. Attention may focus on Pape Matar Sarr's goal, and on Myles Lewis-Skelly getting caught on the ball in the build-up — though there were questions over whether there had been a foul from Richarlison. Lewis-Skelly was then quickly surrounded by white shirts while David Raya could have been more aware of his surroundings before putting his team-mate in danger with his pass. Advertisement Spurs gave Arsenal warning signs before that though. They hit the post directly from the corner and Richarlison somehow missed from a yard or two out. On both occasions, Lewis-Skelly and William Saliba were defending the back post but too slow to track the flight of the ball and prevent it causing problems. Defensive set-piece issues are not new for these players. Arsenal conceded a flurry of goals from these situations at the back-end of last season, which saw their tally reach 14 for the whole 2024-25 campaign — the joint-fifth highest in the Premier League alongside Ipswich Town. That needs addressing quickly, but it does seem like set-piece coach Nicolas Jover is continuing to innovate from attacking set-pieces. Arsenal scored 17 set-piece goals last season, the joint-most alongside Crystal Palace, and trialled a new routine early on against Spurs. A new set-piece routine from Arsenal. Five players lined up along the edge of the penalty area #AFC — Alex Howell (@iamAlexHowell) July 31, 2025 These did not result in any clear-cut chances, but could give teams a different problem to solve this season. Raya and Saliba played at least five long passes in behind the Spurs backline within the opening 20 minutes in Hong Kong. Their targets were varied. Saka staying high and wide made him an obvious option, while Gabriel Martinelli's runs were helped by Kai Havertz dropping back. That willingness to go long also allowed Declan Rice to stretch his legs, as Havertz flicked on a ball from Raya which resulted in the England international winning Arsenal a corner. This continued a theme from the wins over Milan and Newcastle United of Arsenal trying to speed up their play, but the execution was just off. Half of these moments were flagged for offside, which could just mean more practice is needed. That kind of approach would likely benefit Gyokeres the most, so it cannot be abandoned just yet. Being dealt that hammer blow by Sarr just before half-time did not help matters. Spurs were happy to retreat into their own box, which took all the speed out of Arsenal's play. Once again, Arteta's side were camped outside an opposition penalty area trying in vain to break them down. That has been a tiresome trend of Arsenal matches in recent years, so seeing how Arteta responds to those situations will be interesting going forward. Advertisement Zubimendi will help in these situations, while 15-year-old Max Dowman provided another energetic cameo on the right. On the left, neither Martinelli or Leandro Trossard (who came off injured) posed a major threat to Pedro Porro. Reiss Nelson offered something different on that side, but with Arsenal in talks with Fulham over a potential move, that still feels like an area that needs addressing.
Evening Standard
31-07-2025
- Sport
- Evening Standard
Arsenal FC vs Tottenham: Friendly prediction, kick-off time, TV, live stream, team news, h2h results, odds today
The same can be said of Spanish centre-back Cristhian Mosquera, who was signed from Valencia earlier this month. Mosquera joined the squad in Singapore but did not feature in the Gunners' narrow 3-2 win over Newcastle at the National Stadium on Sunday. He should get a run out in Hong Kong.
Yahoo
30-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Cristhian Mosquera: Arsenal confirm fifth summer signing as defender joins in £13m deal
Arsenal's summer spending spree continues as they have signed Cristhian Mosquera from Valencia. The Gunners struck an agreement for an initial fee of around £13million (€15million) with the La Liga side, as Mosquera signs a five-year deal in north London, with an option to extend by a further 12 months. The 21-year-old centre-back arrives with an excellent pedigree, and is recognised as one of the best young defenders in the Spanish top flight. He played in all but one league game for Valencia last term, chipping in with a singular goal against Leganes in a 2-0 win. The season prior, he missed just two games, with that his real breakthrough as a first-team regular at the Mestalla. He made 90 appearances for Valencia over a nine-year spell at the club. Discussing the deal via the club's official website, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said: "We're delighted to welcome Cristhian to Arsenal. As a 21-year-old defender, Cristhian has already performed consistently well with significant experience in La Liga. 'He is an intelligent player with good pace, who can play centrally and on both sides. 'He is a young player with exciting talent and enormous potential, who will fit well into our squad as we continue to prepare for next season. Cristhian adds good quality to our squad, and we look forward to working with him and making him feel at home with us. 'From all of us, we welcome Cristhian and his family to the club.'
Yahoo
29-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
2 new signings & 2 injury comebacks in Arsenal training
Viktor Gyokeres, Cristhian Mosquera, and Jurrien Timber were all involved in Arsenal's training session on Tuesday, ahead of the final friendly of the Asia tour. Photo via As reported earlier today, Riccardo Calafiori joined up with the Arsenal squad for their training session on Tuesday, despite being withdrawn early on in the second half of Sunday's pre-season friendly against Newcastle United. But it looks like Calafiori isn't the only player making a comeback, with Jurrien Timber also pictured in boots with the ball at his feet taking part in the session. And as well as the two injured defenders, Arsenal's two new signings were also involved in the session, with both Viktor Gyokeres and Cristhian Mosquera taking part. Photo via Mosquera has already been involved in a couple of training sessions, but he wasn't included in the matchday squad at the weekend due to his limited minutes on the training pitches since the end of last season. The defender returned late to training with Valencia due to his summer involvement at the u21 Euros, and after his final session with the club on July 14th, he didn't train with Arsenal until July 25th. It's been a disrupted schedule for him so far. Gyokeres' situation isn't too dissimilar, with the striker having zero involvement in team training with Sporting CP since the end of the 2024/25 campaign. All the same, both Gyokeres and Mosquera have been added to Arsenal's pre-season tour squad to face Tottenham Hotspur, so it's not impossible they could play some part in the game on Thursday. Photo via Arsenal still aren't at full strength, notably missing Gabriel Magalhaes through a minor injury setback, Gabriel Jesus due to his long-term ACL injury, and Noni Madueke as he has his post-Club World Cup summer holiday. Karl Hein is also injured, and Fabio Vieira is on a post-Club World Cup holiday of his own, but both players appear likely to leave this summer, so it's unlikely Mikel Arteta will be counting on them anyway. Other than that, the Arsenal boss is getting pretty close to having all of his players available for selection.
Daily Mirror
28-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Transfer news LIVE: Arsenal chase Eze, Liverpool agree £65m deal, Man Utd striker latest
Arsenal completed two transfers last week, with Viktor Gyokeres and Cristhian Mosquera joining the club, but they are not ready to stop there. Attention has now turned to Ebererchi Eze, with a £60million deal for the Crystal Palace playmaker being prepared by the Gunners. They are not the only team who are busy right now. Liverpool have splashed the cash in the summer transfer window, with an initial £265m already spent after the arrival of Hugo Ekitike, and while Alexander Isak remains on the radar, their current focus is sales. Luis Diaz is heading to Bayern Munich after a £65.5m deal was agreed with the German giants and Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott could follow him out of the door. Manchester United are in the market for a striker, Manchester City are poised to announce the signing of Burnley's James Trafford and there are many more transfers in the pipeline. Follow Mirror Football's live blog to stay up to date with everything that's happening.
