Arsenal latest: Max Dowman's dad slams coach as £34m signing addresses transfer talk

Arsenal enjoyed a boost to their Premier League title pursuit ahead of a crunch Champions League clash

Arsenal strengthened their position at the Premier League summit with a 2-0 victory over Everton at the weekend. Manchester City's failure to secure the win at West Ham meant the Gunners' advantage at the top extended to nine points.

Such thoughts will have swiftly been cast aside for Mikel Arteta, though, as his side host Bayer Leverkusen in the second leg of their Champions League round-of-16 encounter at the Emirates Stadium. Robert Andrich opened the scoring in the German outfit's home fixture, but Kai Havertz levelled for his side with an 89th-minute spot-kick.

The tie stands delicately balanced at 1-1 heading into Tuesday evening's return fixture. Arteta is eager for his team to address their shortcomings ahead of the knockout encounter.

Speaking about the approach for the second leg, he said: "We will look at the things that we have improved, the situations that we can create and try to be especially much more efficient in a lot of simple things that today we didn't do so well."

Here, football.london examines the latest stories emerging from the red half of north London as the Gunners continue to manage a congested fixture list.

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Vieira pushes transfer talk back

Fabio Vieira remained guarded regarding a possible switch to the Bundesliga following another significant contribution for Hamburg at the weekend. The midfielder found the net as Hamburg claimed a 1-1 draw with Koln to maintain their nine-point cushion above the drop zone.

Vieira has scored five goals in the Bundesliga this campaign, providing four assists while on loan. The 25-year-old moved to Hamburg on a season-long loan last summer and has confessed to "feeling like the old Fabio again."

Earlier this month, BILD reported that the club are eager to finalise a permanent deal for Vieira but would prefer a reduction in the asking price. The Gunners are seeking approximately £17million, having purchased him for an initial £30m potentially rising to £34m - but Hamburg would need this figure to be lowered.

Following the Koln draw, Vieira was quick to dismiss speculation surrounding a permanent switch. He said: "It was a great goal. I knew it was a big step for me to come here and rediscover my true potential.

"Everyone knows I still have a contract with Arsenal. So let's wait until the end of the season. Then we'll talk about it and see what we can do."

Max Dowman's dad hits back

Max Dowman's father, Robert, has criticised Temisan Williams after claiming the coach is merely seeking "attempted self-promotion." The 16-year-old became the Premier League's youngest goalscorer at the weekend during Arsenal's 2-0 victory over Everton.

Williams featured on talkSPORT alongside Gabby Agbonlahor and Ally McCoist and was introduced as a former coach of the teenager. He spoke about Dowman's progression through the academy and his qualities.

However, Robert wasn't pleased with this appearance and turned to social media to criticise Williams. He said: "Listening to this guy Temisan Williams claiming he was any part of Max's journey is a really sad piece of attempted self-promotion.

"I have asked him previously to refrain from doing so, but still he pops up on talkSport this morning... I remember him putting the cones out at training a few times, but that's about it. We have so many fabulous coaches who we are so grateful to. He is certainly not one of them.."

Speaking about Dowman, Williams told talkSPORT: "It's an incredible thing that Max has done, it's brilliant for his family, the academy, the club and the fans. He should just enjoy the moment, which I know he did.

"I should start by saying, scouts have done a fantastic job. I was the Under-12s assistant coach. I was also able to see Max for two years, so a small part of his journey, but Max has always had that super strength of being able to carry the ball. That's always been something he's enjoyed, something he's strong at and something we saw in training."