Arsenal send first Dani Olmo transfer 'offer' as Mikel Arteta seeks to avoid nightmare scenario

Arsenal are approaching the end of the calendar year with plenty on Mikel Arteta's plate to worry about - both on and off the field.

Each fixture seems to present new challenges as the Gunners aim to keep pace in the ongoing title race. Liverpool currently lead the way with 36 points, Chelsea follow them with 34 and Arsenal have somewhat relinquished their grip trailing in third with 30 points to their name.

Following on, Arteta and his colleagues behind the scenes at the Emirates Stadium need to work out whether they will enter the January transfer market and how deals are going to be possible.

With the sheer scale of injuries so far this season partnered with the need for goalscoring inspiration, questions are there to be answered. With that said, football.london rounds up the latest news and rumours surrounding Arsenal.

Dani Olmo 'offer'

According to El Nacional, the Gunners have already made their first move for Barcelona midfielder Dani Olmo.

The developing situation over in Spain is an interesting one with reports suggesting the midfielder signed from RB Leipzig in the summer for €60m (£49.7m) could end up leaving for free this January.

This is because they were only able to register him to play until December 31, it is proving a headache to rectify the issue and a clause in his contract would allegedly activate to ensure his release if the matter cannot be resolved.

With that, it is claimed Arsenal - along with English top-flight rivals Manchester City - have sent their first 'very attractive financial offers' to the Euro 2024 winner.

Barca are in a race to make sure they do not lose the player, and Arsenal it would seem are in a battle to capitalise.

Gunners running the risk

As recently reported by football.london, we're approaching that crunch time of the Premier League season towards the midway point - an important marker regarding suspensions.

It is up until then that players accumulating five yellow cards receive an automatic one-match ban. Afterwards the threshold resets to 10 yellow cards across the first 32 matches which, if breached, results in a two-match ban.

Currently Gabriel Jesus is the closest to being punished with the attacker on four bookings for the season. He must stay on the correct side of the referees for matches against Crystal Palace, Ipswich Town and Brentford.

Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Jurrien Timber and Jorginho are all currently on three yellow cards and therefore all need to avoid picking up another two yellow cards each between now and New Year's Day.

Lastly, on two bookings and therefore just required to go one match without seeing yellow are Kai Havertz, David Raya, Thomas Partey and William Saliba.