MIKEL ARTETA has taken a final dig at Mesut Ozil by saying "I tried my best".
The German has been omitted from both Arsenal's Premier League and Europa League squads this season with the Gunners looking to sell him.
Follow ALL of the latest Gunners transfer gossip and news below…
- Alan Scott
GOOD MORNING, GUNNERS FANS
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says he has given £350,000-a-week outcast Mesut Ozil every opportunity to break into his Gunners side.
Arteta told Sky Sports: “What I can tell you that I tried my best, I tried to give him as many opportunities as I could. And that from my own side, I’ve been patient, given him opportunities and been fair.”
Arsenal’s contract negotiation chief Huss Fahmy is reportedly set to quit the club.
The Athletic reports he will continue for a month before handing over to a ‘football operations executive’ with a more rounded role.
Skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was shown flaunting his ‘golden boots’ on Alexandre Lacazette’s Instagram story and the Gabon striker insisted his goal drought will soon end.
He told the Standard: “We are not finding scoring goals easy at the moment.
“But we're an experienced team, with experienced attacking players and we know we will turn this around.
“I'm not worried about that.”Arsenal are interested in signing RB Salzburg youngster Dominik Szoboszlai, according to reports.
The 20-year-old creator has impressed for the Austrians, and has been tipped by some to succeed Mesut Ozil in North London.
According to Fabrizio Romano, appearing on the Here We Go podcast, the Gunners could make a bid as soon as January for the prodigious talent.
- Josh Graham
GOLDEN BOOT
Arsenal's Alexandre Lacazette filmed team-mate and skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang showing off his 'golden boots' in the changing room.
The Gabon striker bagged the Golden Boot in the 2018-19 season but this time round he was showing off his snazzy footwear.
Aubameyang is in need of some goals after finishing just once in six Prem games.
- Josh Graham
NOT GUNNER FACE
Arsenal won't have to face four Manchester United stars this weekend.
Eric Bailly and Jesse Lingard are both still returning to fitness.
And new left-back Alex Telles has tested positive for Covid-19.
Anthony Martial is suspended after his red card against Tottenham.
- Josh Graham
AU YOU'RE HARD!
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang looked stern on Instagram ahead of Arsenal's clash this weekend against Manchester United.
View this post on Instagram
What are you looking ?! 🤣😂😂😂#aubameyang #A⚡️
A post shared byAubameyang Pierre-Emerick (@aubameyang97) on
- Josh Graham
BLEAK WINTER
Arsenal legend Nigel Winterburn reckons the Gunners will not make the top four.
Winterburn, 56, bagged three league titles in North London but fears for Mikel Arteta's side in this campaign.
He told FreeSuperTips: “Arsenal need to aim for the top four but I don't see it happening.
“The first ten games always give a good idea of where Arsenal will finish, they would like to go into the last few games of the season having a chance to be in the top four.
“Losing three of their first six games is not ideal and other teams are looking far better at this moment in time, with Arsenal already having to play catch-up.
“We will know halfway through the season where Arsenal will likely end up, but as a fan I do hope that come the end of the season they have a real chance of finishing in the top four.
“However, on current form and the way the team is playing I don’t see that happening and we (Arsenal) will drop too many points and the better teams will pull away from the rest.”
- Josh Graham
MES GET OUT
Matteo Guendouzi revealed Arsenal outcast Mesut Ozil helped convince him to quit the Gunners for Hertha Berlin.
The 21-year-old French midfielder moved to the Bundesliga side on a season-long loan after finding himself frozen out under Mikel Arteta.
Guendouzi told Kicker: “I had a very good relationship with Mesut Ozil and Bernd Leno.
“Both of them told me a lot of good things about the Bundesliga.”
- Josh Graham
BRAZILIANT
Willian praised boss Mikel Arteta after his cross-London move to join the Gunners from Chelsea in the summer.
In an interview with Brazilian press, he said: “It’s been a great experience and a new one for me. I’ve not worked with a coach with this way of thinking before.
“The positional games doesn’t mean you don’t have freedom on the pitch, but a lot of the time you need to respect the position, what the manager asks for, his instructions, knowing that it’s what’s best for the team.
“A player might not see that much of the ball and get frustrated, but that’s what Mikel always tells us, ‘just wait a bit, the ball will come’. I’ve been learning a lot.”
- Josh Graham
PARTEY PLANNER
Arsenal new boy Thomas Partey is confident the Gunners have enough to topple rivals Manchester United this weekend.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Red Devils are unbeaten in their last four but Ghanaian midfielder Partey reckons his side can reverse the form book.
The 27-year-old told Arsenal's website: “Manchester United are a great team with great players and important players.
“If we do our work well, if we go in and fight for points, if we put a lot of pressure on them, we’ll be able to win.”
- Josh Graham
ARTFUL DODGER
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said he has given outcast Mesut Ozil every opportunity to break into his Gunners team.
Ozil missed the cut for both Prem and Europa League squads but despite his best efforts the German World Cup winner – who earns £350,000 a week – has been unable to reintegrate himself.
Arteta told Sky Sports: “What I can tell you that I tried my best, I tried to give him as many opportunities as I could. And that from my own side, I’ve been patient, given him opportunities and been fair.
“He’s a player that belongs to a football club, he’s been a really important player in the last few seasons. I have to respect that, I’m here to make decisions, the best decisions for the team and for the club.
“This is what I try to do and then I have to explain them because people need the reasons and the right answers.
“I just give mine, whether they believe me or agree with me or not, there’s nothing I can do. But I have to put my decisions, with my heart and with my brain to make the right decisions that I believe are good.”
- Josh Graham
FRIDAY FEELING!
Arsenal's Mohamed Elneny was in a cheery mood in the Gunners' gym.
Eddie Nketiah claimed the Egyptian ace was celebrating his short midweek stint as captain in the Europa League win over Dundalk.
- Josh Graham
STILE ICON
Arsenal have paid tribute to England's 1966 World Cup winner Nobby Stiles who has passed way aged 78.
- Josh Graham
KICK UP A HUSS
Arsenal contract negotiation Huss Fahmy will reportedly quit the club.
He arrived from Team Sky in 2017 and was tasked with negotiating contracts of players and brokering the best possible deals with agents.
Fahmy also played a big role in bringing boss Mikel Arteta back to North London.
According to the Athletic, Fahmy will continue in his role for the next month and complete the handover process.
It is claimed that the Gunbers will replace him with a 'football operations executive' that will have more of an all-round role including negotiating contracts.
- Etienne Fermie
SZOB STORY
Arsenal are interested in signing RB Salzburg youngster Dominik Szoboszlai, according to reports.
The 20-year-old creator has impressed for the Austrians, and has been tipped by some to succeed Mesut Ozil in North London.
According to Fabrizio Romano, appearing on the Here We Go podcast, the Gunners could make a bid as soon as January for the prodigious talent.
- Etienne Fermie
PEPPED UP
Let's take another look at Nicolas Pepe's stunner from last night's win over Dundalk, Arsenal fans.
- Etienne Fermie
AUBA SOON
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has insisted that he will soon end his Premier League goal drought and that Arsenal will get back to winning ways domestically.
He told the Standard: “We are not finding scoring goals easy at the moment.
“But we're an experienced team, with experienced attacking players and we know we will turn this around.
“I'm not worried about that.”
- Etienne Fermie
NIC OF TIME
Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has admitted that he may have made a mistake not re-signing Nicolas Anelka in January 2008 – when the Frenchman instead signed for Chelsea.
The Frenchman told The Tuesday Club Podcast: “Maybe (it was the wrong decision).
“He wanted to come back. Maybe it was a mistake. I wanted to give the signal to the players that once you left the club there is no way back. I
“I felt that they would then have a hesitation to leave. I didn’t give them the feeling of ‘ok I go somewhere else, I try it and if it doesn’t work I come back’.
“That’s why I didn’t do it and overall maybe I should have done it. Nicolas still scored in 125 games overall in the Premier League I think, something like that, so he could have helped us.”
- Etienne Fermie
HAVE A FEW, BOB
Arsenal legend Bob Wilson, who played for the Gunners for 11 years between 1963 and 1974, is today celebrating his 79th birthday.
- Etienne Fermie
DEVILISH DECISIONS
Ahead of Sunday's showdown between Manchester United and Arsenal at Old Trafford, SunSport's Marc Mayo has compiled a joint XI between the two sides… with the likes of Anthony Martial and Hector Bellerin missing out.
- Etienne Fermie
PEPE TALK
Mikel Arteta has talked about Nicolas Pepe, after the Ivorian scored an impressive goal against Dundalk in the Europa League last night.
Addressing whether Pepe's price-tag has added pressure to his shoulders, Arteta said: “I don't think he's got that. I think he's so willing to do well and show everybody – first of all, his team-mates and myself – and also the fans that he is a player that can make the difference every week.
“Obviously, he's not been first choice in a lot of the games at the moment but, to be fair, he's played quite a lot of the moments, some better than others. It's about finding the consistency.
“Not through the games, but during the games as well to be most instinctive and to be able to do the right things in many, many occasions where he has to make the right decisions on the pitch.”
- Etienne Fermie
ON THE BAL
Folarin Balogun has spoken after being handed a senior Arsenal debut from the bench against Dundalk in the Europa League last night.
After the dream occasion, the 19-year-old told the club's website: “Yeah it feels great.
“It's a moment I have been waiting for for a little while so to finally get it feels great.
“I can only thank Mikel and the staff for this opportunity and I look forward to doing it more often.”
- Etienne Fermie
AUBA-REACTION
Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang and Alexandre Lacazette appeared to slam seats in frustration during Arsenal's 3-0 win against Dundalk.
The pair seemed to react in anger when Kieran Tierney blazed an effort over the bar despite the fact the Gunners were 3-0 up and cruising.
Eddie Nketiah, Joe Willock and Nicolas Pepe scored three goals in six minutes either side of half-time.
And Tierney came on to replace Granit Xhaka in the 74th minute as Mikel Arteta looked to shore things up.
But soon after, the Scotsman found himself joining in with an Arsenal attack.
However his miss appeared to spark an angry reaction from his team-mates who were sitting on the bench.
- Etienne Fermie
FAIR PLAY
Dundalk may have lost their marquee Europa League showdown with Arsenal – but they broke a record in the process.
The Irish minnows slumped to a 3-0 defeat against a youthful Gunners XI.
And while the loss will be disappointing, they have etched their name in the history books.
After the full-time whistle sounded, Dundalk officially became the first team in Europa League history to complete a match without committing a single foul.
The Gunners failed to draw a single free-kick during their win, in which Nicolas Pepe, Eddie Nketiah and Joe Willock found the net.
Incredibly, no Champions League match has ever finished without one team failing to foul an opponent.
- Etienne Fermie
PEPE TALK
Arsenal take on Manchester United in a crunch-match this weekend, and SunSport have predicted how Mikel Arteta could line up his men for Sunday's trip to Old Trafford.
- Etienne Fermie
TOP GUNNERS
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has hinted that he could be ready to field some of his fringe players against Manchester United at the weekend, after they swept past Dundalk 3-0 in the Europa League.
The Spaniard said after the match: “I'm really pleased with the way we went about the game.
“Our attitude from the beginning was spot on, we attacked and created a lot of situations inside the box.
“We gave a chance to a lot of players who haven't played many minutes this season and it is something really positive because they showed they are well-prepared, they are at it, and they are ready when we need them.
“They are always in the frame to play. It is not if we lose or win, it is what they bring to the team. How they train, what they are showing. Results at the end are consequences of many things, but individually how they do things is what determines whether they have the opportunity to play or not.”
- Etienne Fermie
TIER-SHIRT
Kieran Tierney turned up at Arsenal in just a t-shirt last night despite the freezing winter temperatures.
The Gunners beat the Irish side 3-0 at the Emirates but the real highlight was before the match with fans stunned as the Scot arrived with just one layer on.
Tierney's team-mates were seen wrapped up in thick coats and tracksuits as they turned up at the stadium.
Until hilarious footage showed the hardy 23-year-old strolling past in just a thin pick club polo shirt.
Source: Read Full Article