Mikel Arteta faced the media on Friday morning ahead of their Premier League clash against Aston Villa. After a convincing win over Wolves on the opening weekend, the Gunners will be looking to build some early season momentum, as they look to challenge for the Premier League title once more.
Arsenal look to be on the verge of signing Mikel Merino, with the central midfielder from Real Sociedad close to joining the Gunners. Arteta was reluctant to give too much away, however, about the potential signing.
The Arsenal boss was questioned about why the deal was taking a prolonged period of time to go through. He said: “You know that I can’t talk about any player that is not with us. There is still time in the market, both ways, for all the managers and all the teams, and you can tell how busy it’s getting. The full focus is on the players that we have at the moment and the big match we have tomorrow against Aston Villa.”
The Spaniard spoke about the transfer window and what Arsenal were looking for in the coming days. Arteta hinted that there would be some more action before the window slam shut. He was asked if there ‘was a number’ he’d like to bring in. He reiterated that “anything can happen, both ways, and you have to be ready in the last week, alert and prepared. A lot of surprises can come for many different reasons, we are prepared.”
Embed from Getty ImagesIn terms of outgoings, Eddie Nketiah has been linked with a move away from North London, with Nottingham Forest said to be interested in the 25-year-old. Once more, though, Arteta was keeping his cards close to his chest, although did hint that he could be on his way if the move was right, revealing that: “I expect Eddie to train with us today to prepare for tomorrow. Whatever happens, will happen, if it’s good for everybody.”
Aston Villa were the only team last season to beat Arsenal twice, doing the double over the Gunners in a 1-0 and 2-0 win. The Spaniard was asked why this was, and Arteta believed it was just a question of his side not being able to take their chances, with Villa on the other hand being clinical.
“They scored, and we didn’t, [it’s] very simple. In two games, even though we had an enormous amount of chances to do that, that was one of the big differences and one of the details for sure that we have analysed. We have to do better tomorrow, but they are a really good side and really well coached.”
Arteta has no fresh injury concerns ahead of their trip to Villa Park on Saturday. Jurrien Timber returned for Arsenal last weekend after being out for a sustained period of time, replacing Oleksandr Zinchenko against Wolves. Arteta was full of praise for the Dutchman, and spoke about the versatility he has and what he can bring coming back into the team.
“He can play in various positions. His versatility is one of his biggest strengths, and obviously we missed him for 11 months, it’s great to have him back playing some quality minutes. He had a really good pre-season up until a point, where we had to stop him because he had a little issue, and we didn’t believe he was ready to start [against Wolves] and we have to be cautious, so I’m unsure about him starting on Saturday.”
Mikel Arteta’s contract expires at the end of the season, but the 42-year-old hopes to build on his project at Arsenal and looks to be signing a new contract once the transfer window is closed and the deals are finalised. He looks to resume talks come September, but he confirmed that for now, “the focus has been on the transfer window.”
Arsenal face Aston Villa at 17:30 BST on Saturday, and you can catch all the action here on FromTheSpot.