On the eve of Arsenal’s UEFA Champions League meeting with Internazionale at San Siro, Mikel Arteta addressed the media to reflect on Edu Gaspar’s shock departure, how he views Wednesday’s opponents and why he is so fond of Bukayo Saka in a captaincy role.
What did Mikel Arteta say?
On Monday, Arsenal confirmed that the club’s sporting director, Edu Gaspar, had resigned from his role with immediate effect. The former Invincible is strongly linked with a move to the Marinakis Group, which would see him assume the CEO position and work closely with Nottingham Forest alongside other clubs.
Asked for his thoughts on his colleague’s side departure, Mikel Arteta told reporters: “I loved working with him, I really enjoyed being alongside him on this incredible journey. From day one we’ve been together. First of all I’m very grateful personally for everything he’s done for me, and for the amazing work he’s done for the football club.”
“I think we both had this special chemistry, working together, we really both enjoyed our roles and working together. I’m very blessed he’s been part of my life in such a beautiful place that I am right now, managing this amazing club and he’s been a massive part of that. He’s got an amazing opportunity now to do something else, in a different role and he believes it’s the right professional move for him. We have to respect that.”
Embed from Getty ImagesEdu has had a transformational impact at Arsenal since first re-joining the club as Technical Director five years ago, but Arteta was keen to remind supporters that “we have a strong leadership team with unbelievable knowhow, real passion and a great feeling for the football club, [so] we’re not going to stop where we are at the moment.”
“Across the club, [there is] excitement, passion and our understanding of where we want to take this journey remains intact,” he added.
Arsenal have struggled in recent weeks, with underwhelming defeats against Newcastle United and Bournemouth seeing the Gunners slump to fifth in the Premier League table. Facing one of Europe’s elite sides on Wednesday is an opportunity to make a statement, and Arteta praised Simone Inzaghi’s side during his pre-match press conference.
“I think they have a really clear idea and identity and that for me is the biggest strength of Inter and that’s full credit to the manager. He has some very specific ideas, especially in ball possession, the way he moves the position of certain players to occupy different spaces and this makes it tricky and unpredictable.”
Bukayo Saka could be key to unlocking a resolute Internazionale defence yet to concede in this season’s UEFA Champions League, with Arteta beaming as he expressed that the Englishman “has got this capacity to inject positivity into people.”
“He’s come all the way from the academy and he’s one of our biggest talents, our biggest players – no question about that,” he concluded.
