{"id":1445,"date":"2026-04-01T16:51:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T16:51:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=1445"},"modified":"2026-04-01T16:51:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T16:51:48","slug":"god-willing-star-wants-to-sign-for-arsenal-and-play-for-mikel-arteta-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=1445","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;God willing&#8221; &#8211; Star wants to sign for Arsenal and play for Mikel Arteta"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_545927\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-545927\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.sportwitness.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mikelarteta.jpg\" alt=\"Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta\" width=\"1000\" height=\"684\" class=\"size-full wp-image-545927\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.sportwitness.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mikelarteta.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/cdn.sportwitness.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mikelarteta-300x205.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.sportwitness.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mikelarteta-768x525.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.sportwitness.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mikelarteta-614x420.jpg 614w, https:\/\/cdn.sportwitness.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mikelarteta-640x438.jpg 640w, https:\/\/cdn.sportwitness.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mikelarteta-681x466.jpg 681w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-545927\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Arsenal have once again been brought into Luiz Henrique\u2019s thinking, with the Zenit winger going further than before by revealing conversations with current Gunners players about a potential move. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Brazilian\u2019s admiration for the club is no longer just a childhood preference \u2013 it is now tied to direct insight from inside Mikel Arteta\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n<p>The 23-year-old continues to build a strong reputation in Russia and with the Brazil national team. He just had two brilliant cameos in frendlies against France and Croatia and will probably be on the plane to North America in June.<\/p>\n<p>His numbers back that buzz up. Luiz Henrique has already delivered double-digit goal contributions this season for Zenit, maintaining the same explosive profile that made him stand out in Brazil. Pace, dribbling and one-v-one ability remain his main weapons, and they continue to translate at a higher level.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Arsenal transfer conversations and growing pull<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Luiz Henrique\u2019s links with Arsenal began with the player himself. Last November he said he would like to play for the Gunners. In the meanwhile, his agent revealed he would prioritise a move to England if his client ever moved from Russia.<\/p>\n<p>Now, he has taken that a step further by confirming he has spoken directly with Gabriel Magalh\u00e3es and Gabriel Martinelli about life at the club.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cI really like Arsenal. I\u2019ve said that a lot in interviews. I like the way they play, very aggressive, using the wide players a lot on both sides,\u201d<\/em> he explained to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LeoJoseReporter\/status\/2039074939219665287?s=20\"><strong>Flashscore<\/strong><\/a>  in Brazil.<\/p>\n<p>He then revealed those internal conversations: <em>\u201cI\u2019ve spoken with Gabriel Magalh\u00e3es and Martinelli. They told me the team there is excellent, and the coach too. Arteta is like a father figure, someone who really likes the players and is always listening to them. So, God willing, I want to have that opportunity to work with him as well.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Those comments reinforce the idea that Arsenal are not just an abstract ambition. There is now a clearer connection between the player and the environment at the club, which can often play a role in future transfer decisions.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Premier League background and rising trajectory<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Arsenal are not alone in having tracked Luiz Henrique in the past. Before his move to Zenit, there was strong interest from <strong>Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United<\/strong>with English clubs actively competing for his signature. That interest has remained relevant given his continued development.<\/p>\n<p>Players with his profile \u2013 direct, powerful and creative in wide areas \u2013 tend to attract Premier League attention consistently.<\/p>\n<p>Given his age and trajectory, it would be a surprise if he remained in Russia for the long term, especially with Zenit now open to offers and having set a \u20ac40m (\u00a334m) asking price.<\/p>\n<p>But Luiz Henrique\u2019s priorities remain clear. He wants to win the World Cup with Brazil and continue performing at Zenit. At the same time, he is openly building a pathway towards England, and Arsenal sit firmly at the centre of that plan.<\/p>\n<p>The winger has the level to start for many Premier League sides already, and his profile fits the league\u2019s demands. Based on current form and output, he surely would align well with Arteta\u2019s attacking structure if the opportunity arises.<\/p>\n<p>Fair to say he\u2019s done his part building the scenario. Now the transfer is up to Arsenal.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"de\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea Kenneth Eichhorn, Jean-Matt\u00e9o Bahoya and Nathaniel Brown<\/p>\n<p>\u27a1\ufe0f Arsenal in the mix for 3 Bundesliga youngsters<a href=\"\"><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/afc?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#afc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sport Witness (@Sport_Witness) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Sport_Witness\/status\/2039299131517043151?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 1 -->\n    <\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta Arsenal have once again been brought into Luiz Henrique\u2019s thinking, with the Zenit winger going further than before by revealing conversations with current Gunners players about a potential move. The Brazilian\u2019s admiration for the club is no longer just a childhood preference \u2013 it is now tied to direct insight from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}