Arsenal information: Arteta to rival Real Madrid for £68m ace as star slams ‘mistake’ becoming a member of Gunners

Arsenal will have a major transfer scrap on their hands with Real Madrid to sign a Champions League star, while a former Gunner has slammed joining the club as a ‘mistake’

Arsenal finally return to Premier League action this Saturday at the end of a three-week international break as they welcome Leeds United to the Emirates Stadium.

The champions’ unbeaten start to the season began brilliantly, but ended in humbling fashion in their last outing against Brighton. The Gunners were completely outclassed during their trip to the south coast in the 3-0 defeat at the Amex.

Arteta has been forced to endure an unusually lengthy spell before getting the chance to recover from that setback, and the Spaniard now has to deal with injury problems suffered by the likes of Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Christos Tzolis and now Ezri Konsa. Here, the Daily Star Sport looks at the latest Arsenal news.

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Gunners hit by fresh injury setback

Arsenal have been dealt another defensive injury concern ahead of this Saturday’s fixture.

Centre-half Ezri Konsa was brought in during the summer primarily because of key defender William Saliba’s ongoing back problem.

The ex-Aston Villa player has been a consistent presence in the starting line-up since his transfer to north London, a move that also earned him a call-up to the England squad for the recent Nations League matches. However, the 28-year-old, who played in two of England’s three games, withdrew from the squad ahead of today’s match against the Czech Republic.

Tuchel elaborated: “Ezri felt discomfort when he came into camp, played with it against Spain and it got a bit worse so he stayed in camp and tried everything for the match against Czechia and it came too soon.

“He tried everything for the game in Croatia, got the green light and came through all the training sessions so was ready to play.

“Unfortunately, he got another hit on the quad and that caused a light trauma and we decided not to let him play through this pain, so he left camp to get treatment for both his issues now. I think nothing major but not worth the risk taking.”

It remains uncertain whether Konsa will be fit to face Leeds. Arsenal were also missing Ben White and Cristhian Mosquera in their loss to the Seagulls, and it is yet to be confirmed whether they will be available for selection, while Jurrien Timber has recently made a comeback from his own injury woes.

Willian reveals private Arteta chat

Former Arsenal winger Willian claims he was promised the earth by Arteta and the Gunners hierarchy ahead of his switch from Chelsea. The Brazilian was snapped up from the west London club in 2020 after his deal expired, penning a whopping £220,000-per-week contract despite being 32 at the time.

Willian’s stint in north London proved to be a massive disappointment, netting just one goal throughout the entire 2020/21 campaign before terminating his contract by mutual agreement. Speaking to his former Chelsea teammate John Obi Mikel on The Obi One Podcast, he revealed how the transfer materialised following discussions with the manager.

“I met Arteta, I met everyone there,” he said. “And they said, ‘We want you to be the main guy’. Arteta said to me: ‘We’re going to play like this, and I want you to be the main guy, I will build the team around you, I want to give you the key to the club’.

“When I heard that, obviously I love Chelsea but I was in the last year of my contract, I was 32, and I was thinking three more years in London, stay with my family in London, they love London. And then I decided. To be honest I should have stayed but at that moment I was thinking maybe the best solution is to go there, and I signed for three years there but it was not good.

“I got frustrated,” he added. “I am not saying it is their fault, but when you heard a lot of things and then you join the club, things that are not the same as what they told me, I got frustrated straight away. Three months later I said to my agent I want to leave, and that I made a big mistake leaving Chelsea.”

When questioned if promises were broken, Willian responded: “It was more due to what I heard. I got frustrated from that because when I was there I saw some situations that I said to myself, it’s not going to change. But it didn’t work and because of that I couldn’t play well or perform because I wasn’t happy. When you are not happy you cannot perform. Money cannot buy happiness. It was the best contract of my life there, but I wasn’t happy.

“I have nothing against him [Arteta]. He’s a great coach inside the pitch, his ideas are great but he missed little bits on how to manage the team. The human part, he was missing it. It’s important, but inside the pitch he is good. I always joke that they sold me a dream and it wasn’t a good dream.”

Arsenal face transfer blow to Real Madrid

Arsenal are reportedly interested in signing Como star Nico Paz, but Arteta’s chances of landing the creative midfielder have suffered a blow before talks have even gotten off the ground.

Paz has been linked with an exit from Como over the past year, but in the summer he joined the Serie A club permanently for a second time. Real Madrid triggered their buy-back option for the 22-year-old before selling him back to Como and installing another, higher, buy-back option.

That clause, reported to be worth £67.5million, comes into effect next summer, and Los Blancos are expected to make a decision on whether to trigger that fee in the coming months – potentially leaving Arsenal completely out of the frame before Arteta gets the chance to attempt to convince the Argentine to join.

Paz has one goal and one assist in five Serie A games so far this season after netting 12 league goals last season to fire Cesc Fabregas’ side into the Champions League.