Here's your latest Arsenal morning digest on Sunday, August 20.

Timber replacement makes decision

Arsenal have been dealt a major blow to their hopes of replacing Jurrien Timber with Benjamin Pavard. The 22-year-old defender, who recently joined the Gunners from Ajax, has suffered a devastating knee injury which is expected to keep him out of action for a while.

Pavard sees his contract at the Allianz Arena expire at the end of next season, making him available for a cut-price fee (€30million (£25.7m)). However, despite his increasingly uncertain future, Bayern have decided that he will stay, according to Sky Sports Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg.

The Bundesliga champions' decision follows comments made by Thomas Tuchel, who insisted that Pavard has a future at the club. Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, the former Chelsea boss said: "Benji hasn’t communicated to me that he really wants to leave. As of now, there hasn’t been an offer. He’s our player and gets full support. Until that changes, we’re fully counting on him."

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Nwaneri dilemma

Mikel Arteta has been dealt a major dilemma ahead of Arsenal's clash against Crystal Palace. The Eagles will welcome the Gunners to Selhurst Park on Monday evening with both sides hoping to continue their winning start to the new Premier League season.

As Arsenal prepare to face Palace, Arteta found some free time in his busy schedule to watch the under-21s lock horns with Leicester City at the Mangata Pay UK Stadium in Borehamwood. The Spaniard was pictured in attendance by a fan as the young Gunners enjoyed a dominant 4-1 win, with Ethan Nwaneri taking home the match ball.

The 16-year-old, who became the youngest ever Arsenal player after making his debut against Brentford in September 2022, put on a stellar display in front of Arteta on Friday night. While the north London outfit aren't short on options in the midfield or the frontline, his impressive performance certainly sent the first-team boss a clear message.

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READ MORE: Arsenal on red-alert as surprise £68m Barcelona transfer opportunity arises

How Raya became one of the Premier League's best shot-stopppers...

At just 15-years-of-age, David Raya was one of the few players from the academy of UE Cornella to make the trip to England and it did not take long for him to make an impression. In an interview with football.london, former Blackburn academy goalkeeping coach Steven Drench said: "After one session I went into the academy manager and said 'we need to sign him now'.

"It was everything. His athleticism, he could use both feet, which for a young goalkeeper - never mind an outfield player - was very unusual at that time. He was good with his hands, his shot stopping, everything about him was just out of this world for a 15-year-old.

"At the time we had a really good crop of young goalkeepers coming through, but after one session David was just something else."

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