By Tim Stannard  

1) Wenger doubts criticism of Arsenal ‘legends’

Arsene Wenger, the world has missed you!

It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for the weekly address from the ever under-fire Arsenal boss. In previous months, the topics have varied from whether he is going to stay on at the club, buy Thomas Lemar and keep Alexis Sanchez. Three of those questions have been answered – yes, no, yes -  but another one has been posed. What to do with Sanchez, the very much down-in-the-dumps Chilean?

“He (is) strong mentally, and hopefully will be back very quickly at his best," said Wenger at a press conference ahead of Saturday’s clash against Bournemouth, on a footballer who is having a rough ride both for club and country.

The other topic of conversation for the feisty Frenchman was the criticism of former players like Thierry Henry – legends as they are sometimes called. “I always have problems understanding what a legend is and what a legend isn’t,” noted Wenger. “I’ve had all the players here and we speak about today but they all had their weaknesses, as well. Don’t worry about that,” roared the Arsenal manager. 

Tune into the XTRA from 7PM ET / 4PM PT on whether Arsenal can reboot their season.

2) Premier League to end transfer window early

BREAKING NEWS!

And it’s one that will make Arsene Wenger extremely happy. Premier League clubs are officially done with the drama and have voted to close the window at 5PM on the day before the season starts. That means that no purchases or sales will be permitted once the season has started, although European rivals are still to carry on whenever they like.

In theory, that might help avoid an Alexis Sanchez or Philippe Coutinho situation…and ruin everyone’s deadline day fun in the process.

3) Diego Costa in very surprise Turkey move

TRANSFER TRACKER! Yes! It’s back! It never really went away.

The Turkish window closes on Thursday – and there might well be room for one more. That one more being Diego Costa who is reportedly in Turkey completing a medical for a move to Fenerbahce.

The Brazilian-born Spaniard has been having problems with Chelsea – to say the least – and returned to London on Wednesday to a very unwelcome reception. A move to the Super Lig could well be a good option though with some other illustrious forwards to play with including Robin Van Persie and Roberto Soldado.

While we are here, let’s go a for TRANSFER TRACKER 2018 story! Inter Milan will reportedly be after Jerome Boateng in the winter window if the defender continues to be out of the picture at Bayern Munich.

4) Guaranteed USA women’s winner at Open

A truly remarkable day at the US Open in Flushing Meadows is in the offing with the perfect situation for the US tennis. All four semi-finalist places have been taken up by American players. And if Sports Burst is not mistaken, that means there will be an American winner.

That could either be Venus Williams or Sloane Stephens or are facing off, or rising star Coco Vandeweghe, who is taking on Madison Keys. Both clashes take place Thursday evening Eastern Time.

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The life philosophy of Sports Burst is that if you are not upsetting someone, then you are not trying hard enough. SB is a daily trawl and troll through the morning's sports news to bring you fact-nuggets to make you both smile and swear. Hopefully at the same time