- 3 hours ago
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta Discusses Injury Updates, January Transfer Market Deadline & Trophy Focus
02/02/2026
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK
02/02/2026
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK
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SportsTranscript
00:00All good. We'll just kick off at the ASLive and then we'll go into a 10.30 tonight.
00:06We'll kick off with Gary from Kai.
00:09Hi, Gary.
00:10Any casualties we don't know about on the weekend?
00:13No, I think you're aware of all of them.
00:15With the Kai, obviously, is there a hit issue before?
00:21Yeah, we have to wait.
00:23Today he was better, but we have to wait and see how he responds
00:28and make the decision.
00:31I'm surprised you know and I'm sure you've asked
00:33and you've seen him, nothing too serious?
00:35It doesn't look like something too serious.
00:38Whether he's going to be available for tomorrow or the weekend, we'll see.
00:42Obviously, we've got further news now on Nick Calmarino.
00:45He's going to be out.
00:47The club stays until, well, hopefully, he'll be training again
00:50before the end of the season.
00:53Can you be any more specific than that?
00:55Well, we hope so.
00:57Obviously, he needs to go through our procedure,
00:59which is never always positive.
01:01He's a big player for us.
01:03A player that has such versatility and capacity to compete in various positions.
01:09Yeah, that's a big blow.
01:11Is it a fracture?
01:12Yeah.
01:13Obviously, the wording of the statement suggests that there might be a chance
01:19in playing a game before the end of the season.
01:21Obviously, there's a World Cup coming up as well.
01:23So, those are targets, I guess.
01:25Let's see.
01:26It's a very rare injury.
01:28So, we have to wait and see once we have the surgery,
01:32how that reacts daily.
01:34Obviously, monitor it throughout the weeks.
01:36post the surgery and see.
01:39I know Mikel is going to do absolutely everything that he possibly can
01:42to come back as quick as possible.
01:44But, as well, you have to respect the healing process
01:46and the fact that, obviously, it's an injury that is quite rare.
01:50So, that serious pain in the foot for that Mikel,
01:55is that a pain in the neck for this Mikel?
01:58Yeah, and for the team as well, obviously,
02:00because he's a big player for us, a very important player for us,
02:04and we're not going to have him until probably the end of the season.
02:07Does it change your thinking today before seven o'clock with the deadline?
02:12Of course.
02:13I mean, when you lose a big player like this in the squad
02:15with four months to go and all the competitions to play for,
02:18you need to look and we need to do everything that we possibly can
02:22to see if we have a player that is available,
02:25and if we don't, we keep what we have.
02:28But we know, particularly now,
02:30with his versatility and his abilities as importance to the squad,
02:37not just any player is going to do,
02:39it's got to be someone really special, right?
02:41Well, at this level, especially for four months,
02:44you have to bring a player that has the capacity to adapt immediately
02:47and impact the team, and that's not easy.
02:50But if it would be easy, we wouldn't be here,
02:52so we need to find solutions and try.
02:54I guess in previous years, years gone by,
02:57there would be more of a panic, if that's a right word, than there is now,
03:00because of the depth of the squad that you've got now.
03:04Yeah, but we have more depth now,
03:06but for seven months we haven't had the depth,
03:08because we have players out, like a lot of teams.
03:12So we know the demands, the standards that we need,
03:15and we need players because we play every two or three days.
03:19How pivotal was the weekend then?
03:21I don't just mean going somewhere like these and winning so well,
03:25so convincingly, but also other teams chasing that title, losing points.
03:30We can only control, we can control.
03:33Last weekend we lost, now everything looks different.
03:37We are very happy in the manner that we competed and win our game,
03:40and that's the only thing that is in our hands.
03:42And by the way, big congratulations to our women's team
03:45for winning the trophy at the weekend as well,
03:47which was really nice news.
03:49Paul Merson said on Sky that it kind of felt to him that game,
03:55that victory the whole weekend.
03:57It was like the weekend, the game, where Arsenal won the title.
04:01Yeah, we need another 13 or 14 of those,
04:05and that will make it happen,
04:07so we know how much is still to do.
04:09We are very conscious of that.
04:11I think every club is very conscious of that,
04:13and we just keep going.
04:15So it's the Caramelo Cup?
04:17As is Caramelo Cup, just a bit of a random question for you,
04:20I guess you're the best team in Europe,
04:23you're the best team in the Premier League,
04:25you're a game away with the advantage of getting to a domestic cup final.
04:30There's no supercomputer, unfortunately,
04:32but the book is how you are 9-1 to do the treble,
04:35those three champions in the Premier League, Caramelo Cup.
04:38Is that a target?
04:39Is that something the players can believe in?
04:42Honestly, we go day by day, competition by competition.
04:45Tomorrow we have a really tough game against a very good Chelsea side.
04:49Yeah, we have the home advantage,
04:51we have a good result,
04:52but we have still a lot, a lot to do tomorrow
04:55to end the right to win the final.
04:57Thoughts of something like the treble?
04:59There's nothing wrong with the dressing room
05:00and believing that that's possible, is there?
05:02There's no point talking about it.
05:03What we can talk and control is what we do daily
05:06to sustain the level that we had or to improve it ideally.
05:10Can you talk us through what today is like for you?
05:16Sometimes it's a bit like Championship Manager,
05:20when you get up in the morning and think,
05:22right, I'm wearing those out for the rest of the season,
05:24I need a midfielder,
05:25and then you just go and search someone there,
05:27and it's not like that, is it?
05:29No, it's not.
05:31We had the news a few days ago,
05:34and obviously we are always active in every window that we have,
05:38just in case something happens.
05:40We have the departure of Ethan as well to Marseille
05:43for the right reasons,
05:44I believe for the club player and the team,
05:47and then the news of Mikel were very unexpected,
05:50especially for such a long time.
05:52So we are actively looking at options,
05:54we will continue to do that,
05:56so my day will be the same as usual,
05:58it will be busier,
05:59and if we have a final solution,
06:01we will try to do it,
06:02and if we don't,
06:03we will continue in the manner that we are now.
06:05Because things are going so well on all fronts,
06:07is there the temptation not to replace Mikel?
06:12Because obviously you don't want to disrupt
06:14the harmony you have within your squad right now?
06:18Well, if we do something,
06:19it's just to improve what we have,
06:20and to be better, certainly not with that purpose,
06:24so we will have the consideration
06:26in relation to the opportunity that we have,
06:28whether we do it or not.
06:30Liam Rossini as Chelsea,
06:31second leg of the League Cup,
06:34they have conceded goals,
06:36he's won six or seven games that he's had,
06:38but they have conceded quite a few goals along the way.
06:41Is that a weakness that you will be targeting?
06:45Well, I mean, every team has his own things,
06:48I think Iliam is doing an incredible job so far
06:51in different competitions as well,
06:54and tomorrow the tie has a context,
06:56which is very specific when you talk about a tie,
06:59that the fact that we play at home
07:01and we have the advantage,
07:02but that we need to now make it very concrete
07:05in the manner that we approach the game,
07:07certainly tomorrow, to win it.
07:09Last one from me,
07:10in terms of not setting a ceiling for your team
07:13and going to try and win all four competitions,
07:16I understand obviously you want to do that,
07:18but this is the first one,
07:20this could be your first piece of silverware
07:22in six years since you won the FA Cup here.
07:25Is this in a way the most important of the lot?
07:29I mean, if you win all four,
07:30when you look back I think that was actually the one,
07:33the League Cup.
07:34Yes, I mean, the next one is always the most important one
07:37and it is the closest at least to reach a final,
07:41and tomorrow if we don't have people,
07:43we really need to create the atmosphere, the energy,
07:46the belief that we're going to do it
07:48and all together I'm sure we are very capable of doing that.
07:52James Athletic.
07:53Hi, Michael.
07:54I just had a couple of questions about Ebreche Eze.
07:57You've spoken a lot this season about the need for magic moments,
08:01and he's someone who can provide them and he has provided them,
08:04against Spurs and City and other places.
08:06I just wondered, is that enough really for someone who wants to be a regular starter in your team?
08:13Is moments enough or do they have to find a way to impact the game more often throughout the 90 minutes?
08:18Yeah, you have to impact the game consistently throughout 96 minutes at this level,
08:22and any phase, any action is the most important action,
08:26and on top of that you have to be able to add other values,
08:30in his case he's very, very good and unique at creating those magic moments,
08:35so that's the demands of each player.
08:38Do you think in terms of his position in the team,
08:41when he arrived we saw a little bit more on the left-hand side,
08:44it feels like recently he's been more in central areas,
08:47is that because you feel that central position suits him better?
08:50Well, for different reasons to be fair,
08:52because we had certain injuries on the front line,
08:55we utilised them on the left and we have injuries as well on the right,
08:58so he's been able to adapt to different positions.
09:03I think in the last few weeks he had more consistency in one position,
09:06and just trying to understand as well,
09:08those relationships where he's more comfortable,
09:10where he can impact more the game in relation to the opponent,
09:13and that's where we are.
09:15James, CBS?
09:16Abigail, I'd like to ask you about Victor Jokeres,
09:19four goals in his last six games.
09:21Are you seeing signs of an improvement, and if so, where on the pitch?
09:25Yes.
09:26Well, his all-around play and performances, I would say,
09:29he's been much more consistent in actions,
09:33and consecutive actions especially.
09:35His defending inputs have been terrific from the beginning,
09:39but attacking-wise, understanding his movements,
09:41the timings of his runs, the presence and movements at the box,
09:44he's been much better, and he's been more prolific, certainly,
09:47in front of goals to help us to win more games.
09:49And he's starting to score those, maybe not the most aesthetically pleasing goals,
09:54but do you think that was something your team was maybe missing before Victor came along?
09:58Yes, I mean, he has the ability to do that,
10:00and goals are goals.
10:02I know that we prefer the beautiful ones on YouTube,
10:06but they are all very important,
10:08and the ones that he scored recently are very much the same.
10:11Max, stand up.
10:13Hi.
10:14You've obviously got quite a lot of options in defence and at full-back.
10:17With Mikel now facing a long spell out,
10:19is Miles someone you might now view sort of primarily more in midfield than at left-back?
10:24Yes, Miles has the qualities to play in different positions.
10:28He's played as a full-back, as a six,
10:30or as an attacking midfielder even.
10:32So, yes, that's an option that we have in the squad.
10:35Since he came into the first team,
10:36pretty much all his midfields have been at left-back,
10:38but he came pretty heavily in midfield.
10:40Why, I guess, have you not used him more in midfield than in the first team?
10:45Well, because I believe that he had the best chance to break into the first team
10:49and play in that position because I think he has unique qualities
10:52that we didn't have in the squad to accommodate that
10:54and to give him the chance to play for us.
10:57Tom?
10:58Hi, Miguel.
10:59With Ethan going up on the low, he scored in his first game at Marseille,
11:04I'm sure you've seen it.
11:05How was it like to see him hit the ground running in some ways
11:08and then another in your mind going,
11:10that maybe could have been for us as well?
11:12Yes, but we made the decision now.
11:15What I would love to see from Ethan is the score that grows every three days.
11:19He plays a lot of minutes, he gets the exposure that he needs,
11:23he continues to grow mentally, physically,
11:26in all the technical and tactical aspects that are necessary at this level.
11:30And that's the reason we've done it,
11:31because we believe that was the right context and the right coach for him to do that.
11:35And hopefully that's going to happen.
11:38The understanding was that there wasn't a break clause in that loan
11:41that you could say, emergency, bring him back for him.
11:44Did you do that with the mindset of,
11:46we're sending him out there and he's going to get important experience over the next season?
11:49Well, to be fair, that's more something that Andre and Sam in this case
11:54are more in charge of deciding and negotiating,
11:57because it's not only what we want as well as what the other club suspects
12:01from the player that is joining them and the way he commits to that club.
12:04When you have a situation where you're looking to react really late in the window,
12:12how does it work?
12:14Do you have to Andre with a list of players?
12:17Has he come to you? What's the process?
12:20We start to look at Andre is in full charge of that
12:24and I fully trust him with the experience that he has,
12:29with the relationship we've built and because we understand each other so well.
12:33But we believe that that can help us, the environment that he's going to find that player as well,
12:38the expectations and obviously the financial options that we have to bring a player now.
12:43When you've only got five hours, are you relaxed about the situation that if you don't get anyone in you've got enough?
12:49I wouldn't say relaxed, I think we are on it and it's our responsibility when we are playing for what we are playing,
12:57to give ourselves the best opportunity and chance to look at the market, every option, evaluate them,
13:03and then make a decision whether we do something, if it's possible.
13:07Did you think last January come into your mind where you thought about doing something late,
13:11obviously had that failed bid late on?
13:13Do you think we don't want to get into that situation again?
13:16Yes, I think it's a very different one as well and I know what happened very, very well.
13:23I know the details of that so that was totally different to this one.
13:27Tell us, come on.
13:29Afternoon, Mikel.
13:31The conversation for a while is that it's your title to lose but complacency is the end of your greatness.
13:38Do you have anything particularly special to stop your players feeling that they owe the league
13:45or that they're taking this opportunity for granted?
13:48Yes, the reality that we face every single day.
13:51They are the ones that experience the difficulty and the challenge and the level of this league
13:56and what we want to accomplish so it's obviously not even a thought that.
14:01I don't know, I think it's something to trust, I think a relationship, a cohesion that you have to build
14:30every single day, the way you behave when you win, when you don't win,
14:35in the manner that you make decisions, in the manner that you are perceived inside the club.
14:40I don't know, I think it's a lot of factors.
14:42I'm very, very grateful for the way obviously I get treated, the way I get respected,
14:47for the response that all of our supporters have with the team and with myself constantly.
14:52And tomorrow we have a beautiful night together again to make something special
14:56and we all together we're going to do it.
14:59Okay, look at the way.
15:00Okay, guys we are going to...
15:01OK, guys we're going to...
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