Mesut Ozil s set to finally leave Arsenal after reportedly agreeing a deal to terminate his contract. Should everything be tied up with the Gunners, that would allow him to join Fenerbahce as a free agent. Ozil hasn’t played a first team football match since March last year but he will be thrown into the deep end once his move to Fenerbahce is complete. The Yellow Canaries finished a dismal seventh place last season but are in the thick of a tense title race this time around. Fenerbahce are in second, behind Besiktas on goal difference alone and just two points ahead of other fierce rivals Galatasaray.

Arsenal goalkeeper target Neto has handed in a transfer request at Barcelona, according to Sport. Gunners boss Mikel Arteta is keen to reinforce the goalkeeping position, with doubts over summer signing Alex Runarsson’s long-term suitability. Neto, 31, joined Barca from Valencia in 2019, with Netherlands keeper Jasper Cillessen heading in the other direction. The Brazilian is hoping for more game time at his next club, after finding himself as Marc-Andre Ter Stegen’s understudy at the Camp Nou.

Arsenal are scouting Brentford striker Ivan Toney ahead of a possible summer move, according to the Express. West Ham are also interested in Toney, who joined the Bees from Peterborough in the summer for £10m and is now the Championship’s joint top-scorer with 16 goals this season. However, the report claims the Gunners won’t be making an offer for the 24-year-old this month, and will instead be keeping an eye on him until the end of the season. Brentford are also unwilling to part ways with Toney, as they bid to earn promotion to the Premier League after last season’s play-off heartbreak.

Arsenal’s recent resurgence was checked by a stubborn Crystal Palace, who claimed a hard-fought point from a forgettable encounter at Emirates Stadium. Tagged as relegation candidates as little as three weeks ago, the Gunners came into the game off the back of four straight wins in all competitions, but were unable to find their way past the well-drilled and disciplined visitors. For a side in such good form, Arsenal were a disappointment going forward, their best effort at goal a shot on the turn from Alexandre Lacazette into the side-netting.

Their only other clear-cut chance was an angled shot from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang that Vicente Guaita palmed away. There was more goalmouth action at the other end, with James Tomkins heading an Eberechi Eze free-kick against the bar and Christian Benteke drawing a fine save from Bernd Leno with a nodded effort of his own. The point leaves Arsenal 11th on 24 points and Palace two points and a league place worse off, but comfortably clear of any relegation worries. It was only three weeks ago that West Brom boss Sam Allardyce said Arsenal were in the middle of a battle against the drop.

To be fair to Allardyce, he had a point at the time. But that prediction has been made to look somewhat foolish by the Gunners’ subsequent three straight league wins, which included hammering the flailing Baggies. In light of their upturn in form this result has to count as a minor blip, but it underlines the fact that Arteta’s side remain a work in progress. Young players like Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe have added some much-needed zip and creative flair in recent games, but they were stifled here, flickering into life all too rarely against a dogged opponent. Lacazette had scored in each of the last three league games but was marshalled well by Palace and spurned his only real chance, while Aubameyang remains frustratingly ineffective in his role on the left. Arsenal also felt the absence of the injured Kieran Tierney and his driving forward runs from full-back.

Arsenal defender Rob Holding signs new, long-term contract at the Emirates after battling his way back into Mikel Arteta’s plans following serious knee injury. Sportsmail revealed on January 1 that Holding was set to avoid Mikel Arteta’s squad cull after forcing his way back into the Spaniard’s plans this season. The defender almost joined Newcastle United on loan in August but the move was blocked by Arteta. Holding has since made 18 appearances in all competitions and has started the last 11 Premier League games.

The 25-year-old, who joined Arsenal from Bolton in 2016, has had to battle back from a serious knee injury which he picked up in 2018. The defender ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and spent nine months on the sidelines. Holding was a regular starter during Project Restart last season and helped the Gunners lift their 14th FA Cup. His deal was set to expire in 2023 and the summer arrivals of Gabriel and Pablo Mari threatened to push the centre back down the pecking order. A loan move to the Magpies was close to being completed before Arteta stepped in. The Spaniard wants to trim his bloated squad but sees Holding as a key part of his long-term plans, even rewarding him with the captain’s armband for the game against Everton in December.

The defender has stood out in recent victories over Chelsea, Brighton and West Brom, with Arsenal conceding just one goal across the last three games. The Gunners are now just six points off fourth place and booked their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday with an extra-time victory over Newcastle.

Extra-time goals from Emile Smith Rowe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ensured holders Arsenal beat a stubborn Newcastle in the FA Cup third round. In-form Smith Rowe had an eventful evening after arriving as a second-half substitute, seeing a red card rightly rescinded before opening the scoring. Aubameyang tapped in the second after a slick move cut Newcastle open. Andy Carroll missed two golden chances in normal time, which could have sent Arsenal to a rare third-round exit.

The Gunners, who have won the FA Cup on a record 14 occasions, go into the fourth-round draw having being knocked out in the third round just once in the past 25 years. But it could have been different had 32-year-old striker Carroll been able to convert his opportunities, particularly the second, which came in the final minute of normal time. Arsenal would have had little time to recover from that and they had keeper Bernd Leno to thank as he reacted quickly to spread himself to smother Carroll’s shot. That chance came after former England striker Carroll had been unable to take another opportunity early in the second half, staying onside but sidefooting wide.

Instead, it was a player at the other end of his career who took the plaudits. Smith Rowe, with his energy and willingness to carry the ball, has added another dimension to Arsenal’s attacking play in recent weeks. After an insipid first half, the England youth international was brought on as a 56th-minute substitute by Gunners boss Mikel Arteta and quickly became the game’s central character. In the dying moments of normal time, he was shown a straight red card by referee Chris Kavanagh for a challenge on Newcastle midfielder Sean Longstaff, only for the official to overturn the decision after watching the incident again on the pitchside monitor.