Miguel Almiron will reportedly not play again for Atalanta United as a move to Arsenal is rumoured. He will be replaced by Gonzalo ‘Pity’ Martinez from River Plate according to Diego Cora from ESPN.

A few days ago it was announced by Fox Sports that Arsenal have agreed an £11.5m deal to sign the goalscoring attacking midfielder. That was followed up by a clarification from his agent that hinted at contact but said nothing was formal.

Since then, however, the comments of the 24-year-old’s agent have fallen by the wayside and the story of his signing has dominated.

Now, according to an ESPN reporter, he will not play again for Atalanta and the MLS side have already identified his replacement.

The reason Almiron will not play again for Atalanta is that he picked up a hamstring injury. His side play Chicago Fire on October 21 and Toronto on October 28 before the MLS season comes to an end. Not, then, as dramatic a story as it might first have seemed.

He’s certainly not an injury-prone player with just one problem – a muscular issue in September 2017 that sidelined him for 22 days and four games – on his record. It seems almost fitting his hamstring snapped as soon as he was linked with Arsenal.

I say ‘snapped’ with no evidence that is that case, but, you know, Arsenal DNA etc.

If you’d like to know more about Almiron, check out this profile we got Christopher Weeks, who lives Stateside, to put together when we were linked in January 2017. It has been updated, in parts, for this season.

As for Martinez, ‘Pity’ is his nickname which instantly makes me think of Theo ‘Unlucky’ Walcott even though it translates more to ‘Little Pete’ than the sentiment.

Pity.