Arsenal information: Huge harm blow for Mikel Arteta as agent speaks on controversial switch
Arsenal have suffered a huge injury blow during the international break as an agent has spoken out about a controversial Gunners transfer
Mikel Arteta has problems to solve at Arsenal
Mikel Arteta has suffered a huge injury blow just days after seeing his Premier League champions rocked by a crushing 3-0 defeat to Brighton.
The international break appeared to have arrived at a good time for the Spanish coach to spend three weeks examining just what went wrong in the thrashing by the Seagulls last Saturday and to make plans for a challenging run of fixtures when his team return to action, with stern tests against the likes of Bayern Munich and Liverpool looming.
But his preparations may now be in tatters with one of his key players going down with a suspected hamstring injury for his national side, meaning Arteta may have to go back to the drawing board and reintroduce an expensive addition to his squad, who has become a fringe player and sat on the sidelines for much of the season so far. Here’s all the latest news from the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal’s Spanish manager Mikel Arteta reacts during the hammering by Brighton(Image: Getty)
JOIN US ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page
Martinelli’s agent discloses interest
Gabriel Martinelli’s representative, Marcos Casseb, has revealed his client turned down offers from the Premier League, Italy and Germany before finalising his £60million move to Saudi Pro League team Al-Hilal earlier this month.
Martinelli was seemingly pushed out of Arsenal against his wishes after being omitted from the first two matchday squads by Arteta, a move that drew criticism from club legend Ian Wright.
The Brazilian winger has made an impressive start at his new club, already bagging a hat-trick, reports the Mirror.
However, Casseb of Roc Nation Sports maintains his client’s departure from north London was in the best interests of all involved as he shed light on the situation, telling Brazilian news outlet Itatiaia Esporte: “His time at Arsenal has come to an end. It was seven years; he arrived there at 18-years-old.
Mikel Arteta and Gabriel Martinelli both benefitted from his transfer(Image: Nick Potts/PA Wire)
“Arsenal underwent a massive restructuring and, last year, they won the Premier League. We felt it was time for him to move on, and the club had also seen it that way. It was a very good departure for him and for Arsenal. Besides everything else, he also became Arsenal’s biggest-ever sale and he still helped Arsenal make a lot of money from his departure.
“Did he get offers? He did yeah. We had offers from Italian clubs, we had offers from German clubs and we had offers from other Premier League clubs but it was a moment when I think he needed and he also wanted to clear his head a bit, to change scenery.
“He went to the biggest club in Asia to be part of a very ambitious project. You can see it in the players that they have brought in, three players who were at the World Cup, each with their respective national teams and three players that are under 27.
“That’s a trend in Arab football right now, they’re changing the way they want to sign players. They’ve been trying to do that – lower the average age of the league – and their project has attracted a lot of attention. I think it was really important now for a change of scenery.”
Bruno Guimaraes rues costly error
Bruno Guimaraes has reflected on a difficult moment
Bruno Guimaraes has shared his anguish over fluffing a crucial penalty for Brazil during the 2026 World Cup.
In July, the midfielder saw his weak penalty saved with the scoreline at 0-0 in Brazil’s last-16 showdown with Norway, before Erling Haaland spearheaded his side to a shock 2-1 win.
Guimaraes subsequently completed a high-profile switch from Newcastle to Arsenal later in the summer, but confesses that the sting of missing the pivotal spot-kick for his nation is a hurt he’s yet to shake off.
The Gunners’ new recruit confessed: “Moving on from what happened, obviously it’s a wound, a scar, it’s very recent, it still hurts me, it still hurts a lot that this happened. But it’s part of football.
“May I learn from my mistakes. Often you learn from victory, but normally we learn from defeat, from what didn’t work out. I will continue my daily struggle, my dreams… If there’s another penalty and it’s awarded to me, I won’t hide, I’ll take it again a thousand times, because representing this shirt means a lot to me, it’s always been my biggest dream.
“It wasn’t a good moment, I suffered a lot, but it’s time to move on. You can’t change the past, but you can change the future.
“After an elimination, you end up seeing a lot of conspiracies about things that don’t make any sense,” he continued. “Before the game, we always have our pre-game talk, and the coach decides who will take the penalty.
“I was the guy chosen to take it. Right then, some players wanted to grab the ball. One player takes it, passes it to another, even trying to fool the goalkeeper. And that’s what happened, nothing out of the ordinary.
“Vini [Vinicius Junior] wasn’t the designated penalty taker. I was the one who should have taken the penalty. I took the penalty, I missed, I could have scored. That’s part of football. We’re sad about the criticism of Vini, but it was my turn to take it.”
Injury nightmare
Havertz picked up an issue just 30 minutes into the game(Image: Getty Images)
Kai Havertz has had a scan after sustaining a suspected hamstring problem while representing Germany.
The 27-year-old striker, was forced off in the 30th minute of his nation’s 1-1 stalemate away to the Netherlands in their Nations League curtain-raiser after a hefty tackle from Crystal Palace’s Quinten Timber, the sibling of Havertz’s Arsenal team-mate, Jurrien.
Germany boss Jurgen Klopp revealed both Havertz and Jamal Musiala, who experienced discomfort in his thigh during the warm-up, would undergo scans.
Viktor Gyokeres has been out in the cold at Arsenal so far this season(Image: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
“Both will undergo scans tonight,” Klopp stated after his debut match as Germany manager. “They’re probably out for us, but I hope they’ll be back soon [for their clubs].”
Ex-Chelsea ace Havertz has featured in all five of Arsenal’s Premier League matches this term, netting three times across all competitions.
Havertz’s displays have enabled him to successfully oust Viktor Gyokeres as Arteta’s preferred frontman, despite the Swede’s high profile £67m transfer to North London last summer.
