It wouldn’t be a press conference without Mikel Arteta being grilled about possible incomings and outgoings.
Friday was no different as our manager was asked about a host of players who have been linked with potential moves away from north London.
This is what Arteta said:
on the future of Mesut Ozil and Emi Martinez…
We have some really good players in many different positions. Some of them are complicated and obviously, clubs come to us and they are interested in our players. It is very difficult to promise players game time or to be the first choice. It is part of this period in the market. We try to manage the situation as well as we can, all the time counting on what the players' expectations are, what we can achieve with them as a club and we are making decisions towards that.
on whether there is an update on Ozil…
There aren’t any updates. All of the players that we have here are available here and they have a contract with Arsenal. They have all been training and putting in maximum effort in every training session and this is what I expect from all of them.
on whether Martinez could leave the club…
Again, I cannot stop all the speculation that we have about all our players coming in and out. I don’t want to comment on any individuals at the moment without having the right answers to give.
on whether he's spoken to Alex Lacazette about his future...
H is really happy here, he wants to keep improving and contributing to the team. I know how good he is, the impact he is having. He knows about the competition he has with the front players, and again he needs to demand of himself to be the best striker at this football club, the same as the rest. He was very happy to hear that and the way he has been training and conducting himself has been excellent.
on whether Laca has said that he wants to stay...
Yes, I think he is very happy here. That is my feeling and what I got from that message.
on if the situation has changed with Guendouzi...
Matteo has been training like any other player in the squad. It is a new season and we had some really positive conversations between both parties, now he's back with the group, he is training really well, he went to France to play with the under-21s last week and played really well again, and he is here.
on speculation about Geundouzi being offered in part exchange...
I don't know, I am not going to discuss here what the things that happened internally. But a lot of the things they have been writing, I can tell you they are not true.
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