Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal dealt major blow on deadline day

Mikel Arteta faced the media on deadline day ahead of their Premier League clash against unbeaten Brighton. Arsenal head into the fixture off the back of a hard-fought 2-0 win at Villa Park, and like Brighton, the Gunners will be aiming to head into the international break with a perfect record.

After a drawn-out transfer saga, Arsenal finally confirmed the £32.6m signing of Spanish midfielder Mikel Merino on Wednesday but have been dealt a hammer blow as the 28-year-old faces a spell on the sidelines.

Arteta confirmed the online speculation of a shoulder injury to Merino. He revealed: “Yes, [it’s] very unfortunate yesterday he had a collision, a shoulder injury and looks like he will be out for a few weeks.”

“First session, he was really excited, we were all really excited but he landed on the floor, Gabriel went on top of him and it looks like he has a small fracture most likely. We will have to wait and see, he was in so much pain, he will have to do some more tests and we will have more conclusive answers but this is football.” 

The speculation of the last day of the transfer window is typically fuelled by social media, but the Arsenal boss was not giving anything away in terms of incomings in the final few hours. He teased: “[There are] still a few hours to go, it is always possible in the last 24 hours of the window and you can never rule anything out.”

Early on Friday, England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale left Arsenal for Southampton in a £25m move after being replaced as Arsenal number one by this summer’s permanent signing, David Raya. The 26-year-old joined the Gunners from Bournemouth in 2021, and leaves in search of first team football. 

When asked about his experience with Ramsdale, Arteta said: “First of all, I want to say thank you so much for what he has done for the club, for the team, for myself. When he joined he brought a lot of energy, charisma and he was really good at that time. He is joining a great club, a great coach and he looked really excited and we are all happy for him.”

The England international has been replaced as Arsenal’s number 2 by Bournemouth’s Norberto Neto, as Arteta explained: “It is clear we lost Karl [Hein] and Aaron so we have to replace them both”.

The 35-year-old veteran goalkeeper signed on a one-year loan deal, with the move confirmed in the hours following Arteta’s press conference.

The most frequent question surrounding Arsenal’s summer business is the need for a striker, which was particularly heightened by the injury to Gabriel Jesus, but Arteta has remained calm ahead of the window shutting.

“One of the biggest strengths over the last two years is the way we share the goals and we need to continue to do that. If we can, on top of that, get players scoring 25/30 goals a season then it is the perfect combination and that is what we are trying to do.”

In terms of other outgoings, Arteta kept his cards close to his chest after the departures of Emile Smith Rowe, Fabio Viera and Ramsdale. Towards the end of the evening, news broke that Eddie Nketiah’s highly-anticipated exit had come to fruition, with the striker penning a five-year deal at Crystal Palace.

Brighton visit the Emirates following a midweek 4-0 victory over Crawley Town in the Carabao Cup. In the league, it has been the perfect start for new coach Fabian Hürzeler, picking up wins against Everton and Manchester United and the new arrival will be looking to maintain his perfect Premier League record.

Arteta emphasised the importance of creating a ‘special atmosphere’ ahead of the early kick off as the Spaniard looks to achieve a ninth win in a row with his Arsenal side, a record only matched by the Invincibles. 

Arsenal face Brighton at 12:30 BST on Saturday, and you can catch all the action here on FromTheSpot.