Every word Mikel Arteta said on Arsenal vs Sunderland, Granit Xhaka and five injured stars

Every word from Mikel Arteta’s pre-match Arsenal press conference ahead of the Gunners’ trip to Sunderland

Mikel Arteta faced the press ahead of Arsenal’s clash with Sunderland in the Premier League. Naturally, there was a certain Swiss midfielder who dominated the conversation.

Former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka faces his old club for the first time in a competitive game. Having given seven years of his career to the north London side, he is now helping the Black Cats to compete high up in the Premier League table.

There was also an update on team news, as the injury situation remains significant. Although there was a boost in the form of Gabriel Jesus returning to train with the group, something the Arsenal boss was keen to celebrate.

Here is every word that Mikel Arteta said in the press conference:

A question I always ask you at the start of a news conference, any fresh injury concerns after midweek?

No, no news remains the same and nobody new that can join the squad, so all the same.

Fantastic boost to see Gabriel Jesus on the training pitch yesterday. You said him and the other four or five injuries that you've got not available for tomorrow, but how long before do you think Gabriel could be back in the reckoning?

I don't know, now it's about making the steps day by day in a different surrounding. Obviously, he's been doing everything on his own; now he's got players around him, very competitive players around him, and see how he copes with that. But he's full of energy, I love the reaction of all his teammates when he first joined us and yeah, great to have him back.

Just to confirm then, Odegaard, Havertz, Madueke, Gyokeres and Martinelli not available tomorrow?

I cannot confirm all of that, but you are not far.

And are you hopeful still after the international break you'll have all if not some of them back?

Some of them, all of them I don't know. There are a lot of things that have to happen in the next two weeks, and everything has to be perfect, but I think we'll be very close with most of them to be in a really strong position.

It's Sunderland next, sure to be quite an emotional game for one player in particular in Granit Xhaka. He says that you changed him as a human being both on and off the pitch. Could you give us an insight into the conversations you had with him and what part of your journey did he play?

Yeah, I loved every minute that we spent together. When I joined, he was in a special moment of his life and his career, and between all of us, we tried to guide him, to give him a different perspective, to make him feel loved, valued, and he responded in an incredible way. He made me a better coach, he helped us to develop and improve a lot as a football team and as a club, and I will be eternally grateful because I have great memories with him.

Given the relationship you had with him, when he did leave in 2023, how reluctant were you to let him go? Did you try and convince him to stay?

Well, I already did it once and then we extended his contract and when he came in and explained the reasons, you have to understand the human being, you have to be grateful. It was a unique opportunity for him to come back to his country, to his family and there were certain things that he wanted to experience as well and I believe it was the right moment. He was very honest as he is very straightforward as he always is and we'll find a way to find a good solution for all of us.

Where would you rank Xhaka's move to Sunderland in regard to the signings of the summer?

Well, with the impact he's having, one of the best I would say. I think what they've done as a football club as well in the last few years is very impressive, the management and the decision that they've taken and how stable they look and how they have started the season, so really impressive.

Someone you know very well is going to be in charge of his 1,000th game, Pep Guardiola on Sunday. Can you just put into context how big an achievement that is and have you passed on your congratulations, have you had any communication with him?

Not yet because it's on Sunday, but what a number, what a career, what an inspiration it's been to everybody in football, I would say in sports as well and especially for me.

It's an incredible achievement, it goes in the history of the very best and the few that could only achieve something like that and again, as I said, I think it will remain in the history of football for the years to come.

Manchester City against Liverpool, where will you be watching it and have you got a preference over the outcome?

I'm just focused on tomorrow's game, how crucial, how difficult and how tough it's going to be and that's the first step we have to make.

Just on Sunderland, they're obviously having a really great season this year, I think only your side have conceded less goals in the Premier League so far, has it surprised you just how good they've been, particularly at the back and I guess what are you expecting from them overall at the weekend?

Very well, not surprised when you analyse them and you see how well organised they are, how they adjust things, the spirit that they have within the team, I'm not surprised because they fully deserve the position that they have at the moment so we know the type of game that we expect to play tomorrow and where the opportunities are and the things that we have to do very well to beat them and that's what we're going to try to do.

As for your side, you keep on winning, you keep on keeping clean sheets as well, I guess the obvious question is, are Arsenal getting enough credit for just how good they are at the moment?

It's not about credit, it's about doing it, and once you've done it, do it again, and that's what we have to do. Today, train at our best, try to improve, try to give a lot of clarity to the players and understanding of the game that we have to play tomorrow and tomorrow is execution day again.

And how do you improve, how do you take it to the next level now because for every manager you want to win and you want to keep clean sheets, you're doing exactly that so for you what are the improvements moving forward?

Everything because you learn from your team every single day, from your players every single day, from the opponents that you play every single time and that's information that is so valuable for us and tomorrow is going to be a different game to Tuesday, a very different game to Tuesday and the week before so we need to really understand very early what the game requires, what we have to do to be better than them and hopefully beat them.

Mikel, you mentioned there the achievement of Pep Guardiola's 1,000th game, with you being as young as you are and already having spent a considerable period of time as a manager, is that one of the things you're personally aiming for yourself to reach that kind of milestone?

Well, I would be extremely happy and proud if one day I'm able to do what he's done in his career because, as you all know, he's been probably the most important person in my football career, and I'm incredibly proud of him and what he's done.

You spoke very eloquently about Granit Xhaka as well, he came here after Euro 2016 and stayed for a long time, do you think he was in a way underappreciated by the Arsenal fans?

I don't know, certainly internally he had a lot of appreciation and then when you, I'm laughing because I just visualised Granit and it makes me laugh because he was such a character, huge personality, very funny, super professional and one of those guys that can change the dressing room and the spirit of a team and that's a super power to have.

While you're in a smiley, laughing mood, I was trying to work out before, I think I've worked out there's only one team in the Premier League that probably can stop you achieving your goal this year and winning the Premier League, and I want to know if you agree, and that team is Arsenal.

No, I don't agree. I'm sorry, because any team has the capacity, and I'm sure they believe as well that they can do it, so we are fully aware of that. We know our strength, we know the things that we have to improve as well, and we're just focused on that.

And last one which is a more serious question, late December, you've got Everton away on Sunday and then 48 hours later Crystal Palace in the League Cup.

Hopefully not, very hopefully not.

As things stand right now that is the way things are going, how much are you pleading with common sense to kick in from the people that do the fixtures?

Well I'm super optimistic that this is not going to be the case because from every angle, from the Premier League, from the EFL, from UEFA, all the time the only thing that we talk about is the welfare of the players and the supporters and if we want to maintain that principle that cannot be the case and we cannot play Sunday and Tuesday. So we have very positive talks to the clubs and to the Premier League, and hopefully we'll find a way to help as much as possible because sometimes you cannot help 200 people out there that they have an issue but for that reason you cannot say if I can help 100 I'm not going to do it because what about the other 100? No, no, no. Help 100. If you can help 100 and the other 100 next time you have the opportunity do it as well and I think we need to be very thorough and we cannot allow ourselves to put in that situation.

Jesus is obviously a very different profile to Viktor and Kai and we'll be coming back soon so what traits is he going to bring to the team that will be different from what you have now in the squad?

Well, again, a player that is very unpredictable, full of energy, super competitive, a player that comes from a context of difficulty in the last few seasons for various nasty injuries. So the level of hunger and desire that he's going to bring to the team is going to be amazing. So I'm thrilled to have him, I think he's going to add something extra to the team that we don't have and make sure that very soon we see him on that pitch making an impact for the team.

And naturally, when you bring in a centre-forward and you add numbers to a certain position, it does lead to questions about the players that aren't playing as often or perhaps might play as often in the future. So do you see a longevity with Gabi in the group despite having Viktor and Kai there in that centre-forward position?

Yes, because we haven't had them and now we don't have Viktor and we haven't had Kai again for three months or many forwards and unfortunately that's becoming something that consistently is happening. So we need those options, and what an option to have with Gab.

It sounded like you're hopeful you might have one of those five back tomorrow, is that correct?

When?

You might have one of those five players, Gabi, Kai, Martin, Viktor...

No, I didn't say that.

Let's see what happens in the next week, I don't want to give too much away.

I just wanted to ask something about a bit left field but I don't know if you saw but in the States last week one of the coaches was talking about her use of AI in helping her coach and pick her team and tactics. Obviously, we see it in all industries now but do you think in football we're going to see an increased use of AI in the future?

Yeah, I don't know just to make a decision there, but I think it's a tool that is super powerful, you use it in the right way and you ask the right questions especially. So yeah, it's in use already for many things and many processes that can help not just a team but an organisation as well and I think it will improve and it will give us good insight or things at least to think about.

I know here you've got your football intelligence unit, can you give any insight into how you use it here at the club?

I'm not the most expert on that to comment but yeah it's a valuable tool, we have developed certain things that in our opinion can help us especially to understand ourselves better and what we do and to evaluate what we do and what we can improve and then I think it will explore it to many other areas of the club.

I was just thinking about Granit again, you spoke about his force of personality, he was such a big figure here, a leader and when two years ago you made that decision to allow him to leave the club, you've got a young group and he's been such a big personality in that dressing room, how carefully did you have to think about his absence and managing that?

Yeah, it wasn't obviously an easy decision because I knew the impact that he could still have at the club and the team but then when you have one of those leaders that's as well you need to have in the right frame of mind and fully committed and him feeling that this is the best place for him and Granit when he expressed his idea, the reasons why he believed he was better now or the right timing after everything that we went through together to take another challenge and take that journey somewhere else, it really made me think whether it was the right thing again to try to persuade him to stay if he was having already such a deep feeling about it.

And is there sometimes a benefit when you have a big figure in a dressing room and they leave? Is that a responsibility, a position that other players start to step up and take? Is that what you've seen over the last two years?

For sure, when you have such a character there as well other players are taking different roles and when that person is not there or that role is not there some other people have to step in whether players are already there or players that we identify that we want to recruit as well that could provide something different because it's always going to be different but it was a good exercise to do.

Obviously you want to win every fixture and every fixture is massively important but with this fixture given that City and Liverpool are playing each other at the weekend and there's that natural break that you get with the international break, do you feel like this is an opportunity to lay down the marker in terms of the title race?

Well as you said every weekend is crucial, there are weekends that for other possible results or other games maybe they are a little bit more important but at the end you need to just conquer a certain amount of points if you want to achieve your goals and the three points against Sunderland tomorrow are going to be really tough and we're going to have to really earn them.

And just back to Granit Xhaka really quickly, one of the things you did was alter his role, you changed his position and Arsenal fans started to see the best of him, would you agree then that previous to that he had maybe been mis-profiled a little bit?

No because obviously when we signed him it was for the right reason because he was playing a different role but he was excellent when you see him playing the national team with Leverkusen in a deeper role, he did very well. As well as the necessity of the team or the understanding of the manager or the coach about a player and the chemistry that he can create around other players, as well, and we believe that Granit's position had to be modified and it brought him a challenge as well. But I think it was quite positive for him to say I'm going to show everybody that I can do it and Granit needs that as well in his personality.

Just a couple of questions on the international break, you've got a well-represented in the England squad again, particularly Declan Rice, would you say he's in the form of his career at the moment this season?

Well, he's been super consistent and playing at such a high level, and now we see him impacting the games in various ways, in different areas of the pitch, in different phases of the game, and this is exactly what we want. I think his role is growing at the club, in the team, naturally, as well in a very organic way, and he needs to maintain that. He's been exceptional.

He seems to work very well with the younger players too, almost as a mentor. Myles has been left out of this squad, do you think you or he will have to have a word with Myles today just to reassure him?

Yes for sure, I think we are here to support and help each other and to give a good perspective of the situation and in the case of Myles when you look at his age, what he's already done, he's just remarkable. So don't look at the one moment what is happening for you because maybe it happens for the right reason and today you cannot see it.

With Kai Havertz, when he is available, how cautious do you need to be with him? Obviously he's missed the period but he did get that ace fitness I guess in pre-season.

Well, let's see, let's see how he absorbs the load first when he starts to train with us and when he's done that, obviously we're going to have to be, especially the first few weeks, with an eye on him to manage the amount of minutes and when we play him. But yeah, when you look at his record and what he's done in his career, he's played every single game, he's never been almost injured and now we have this issue with his knee and that will be resolved and hopefully he will be back to his best.

The Mikel Merino has been in fine form and been deployed up front for you. Another two goals in midweek, another two well-taken goals. Will he be a bit of a selection headache for you moving forward in midweek, playing up front a bit more often as well?

Well it always is when we have players of that quality and we have found a way to play Mikel in three different roles already. This season I'm performing in all of them and he had a massive contribution the other night with his goals, especially with Viktor out, which is great to have.

With Mikel Merino up we also saw the two goals of the day. I'm sure you'd be surprised to have him playing on top of the options you already have for injuries. What does he bring to the table that maybe you or the strikers don't bring or the strikers in general don't bring? Because it's not a natural position for him is it?

No it's not natural because he hasn't played before in his career but he's such an intelligent and competitive player that he can adapt to any position. Because first of all he's so willing to do his very best, to understand what he needs to do. He's always asking questions, and he's a winner. Wherever he plays, the only thing he wants is to win, to contribute to the team. And when you have that mindset, things normally go well for you.

And is he the kind of player that starts week in week out? Or is this just a representation of these kind of squad players, these are the players that are needed across the season to sustain a title win or to sustain to win trophies across the season?

I think they are squad players because we have built a squad that can have the capacity to achieve what we want. And the roles will change and he's changed now in the last two seasons in different ways for different situations as well. But the impact on the team remains very, very positive.

With Mikel, he's going to get a lot of stick tomorrow because of his league with Newcastle. Is that something that you'd ever talk to a player about and do you think he'll be looking to prove a point? Is that a good thing when you've got a player with that mentality looking to maybe do that? He's a really experienced player.