Marcus Rashford to Arsenal betting has been suspended amid 'surprise' situation

Bookmaker William Hill have suspended betting on Marcus Rashford sealing a shock move to Arsenal before the end of the transfer window.

Rashford returned to United in pre-season after Barcelona decided not to activate their option to buy the England international following his loan spell last season.

The 28-year-old was given shirt number nine by head coach Michael Carrick, and came off the bench during their 2-0 defeat to Hull City on Saturday.

It had increasingly appeared in recent days that Rashford would be going nowhere this summer.

But a report on Friday from The Independent's Miguel Delaney noted that, according to some sources, it is believed that Arsenal could move to sign Rashford on a 'temporary deal' following their decision to allow Gabriel Martinelli to leave the club and join Al Hilal.

The report says there is some 'internal surprise' at Martinelli departing without a replacement having already been signed.

Following those reports, William Hill have gone as far as suspending their market on Rashford's next club after a significant volume of bets on the outcome.

Spokesperson Lee Phelps has stated: "We've been forced to close our market on Marcus Rashford's next club after receiving a run of bets for the Manchester United forward to make a move to Premier League champions Arsenal.

"The Gunners are set to offload Gabriel Martinelli to Al Hilal, and there are some punters who clearly believe Mikel Arteta will look to Rashford as a replacement for the Brazilian."

It is worth noting that a suspension of the betting markets is by no means an indication that a transfer will get done, or even that it is likely.

Odds fluctuate depending on the volume of bets placed, so if large amounts of money have been placed on Rashford to Arsenal, it will significantly increase the odds that are shown on the market and can lead to betting being suspended.

Arsenal's top target to improve in forward areas is Atletico Madrid's Julian Alvarez, though the Argentine prefers to join Barcelona.

Atletico confirmed on Thursday, however, that they would not do any business with Barca this summer, with reports suggesting Alvarez was involved in a meeting to decide whether or not to proceed with a potential move to the Gunners.

According to football.london, Arsenal will not themselves proceed with a formal bid, or enter negotiations, unless Alvarez signals that he does want to move to north London.

'Personal situations...' - Mikel Arteta addresses Arsenal transfer talks

Speaking in Friday's pre-match press conference ahead of Arsenal's Premier League clash at Aston Villa on Monday, Arteta stated that there were discussions ongoing over the futures of current Gunners forwards Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus.

"That's another personal situation we are dealing with [Martinelli]," Arteta said.

"I think everybody knows and recognises how much we love Gabi. Whatever the outcome is, it will be because everybody agrees to that.

"There are those conversations, and those conversations go both ways. I'm very satisfied with how these conversations went because I know what is in each other's hearts and the words that come through in that conversation made me really happy.

"But it's inevitable that at some point you need to have certain discussions and say certain things that sometimes are tough."