Meanwhile Aaron Ramsdale is a topic of conversation again after Gareth Southgate suggested that he may miss out on the Euros next summer if he doesn't start playing more regularly. You can read everything Arteta had to say on all that and much more with our transcript below.
You’ve got lots of injuries. It’s probably easier to ask who’s likely to be available tomorrow?
As you mentioned we have a few. A few still in contention. We need to give them 24 more hours to give them a chance. We won’t know anything till tomorrow.
Is anyone definitely not available?
Timber is for sure not. Thomas Partey for sure out. Probably Emile is out. There might be a few more.
Will it be a case of Saka being called up for England and not going like last time?
Hopefully not. We want our players to play for their club and their national team. B[ukayo] had to leave the pitch because he was in quite a lot of pain. He didn’t train yesterday. Let’s see if he can make it tomorrow.
Was Eddie not called up to England because of injury?
I don’t know the real reason. I know how important he is for Gareth. I know how important it is for (Eddie) to be in the national team and much he enjoyed the last few experiences. That’s a decision that is not in my hands.
Apparently Thomas’ procedure isn’t likely to affect the length of time that he’s out. Is that true?
No, hopefully not. He’s progressing really well, but it was a significant injury. I said hopefully it will be weeks not months and he’s working towards that. He needs support and hopefully the injury will heal in the right way and we’ll have him back because he’s a big player for us.continue to play with the belief they do, for me it is remarkable.
You and Kompany discuss being managers?
Yes we did discuss it, he was doing his badges and I was there already. He was very connected to the coaching staff, very connected to the team and we had a lot of talks about football and you could tell straight away that he was going to be a coach very soon.Used to have Sir Alex and Wenger with lots of players under them going into management, now having same with Pep?
I think there will be many, many more to come. It has been in different countries and the saga is going to be even bigger because he (Guardiola) has this quality, this capacity to inject with you this passion and another way to look at the game. It’s very contagious, very powerful.
Ramsdale going to attract interest now, message to those clubs keen on him?
I have no messages for any clubs. I can talk a little bit about my players, how much I like my players, how much I like Aaron and that we want Aaron with us, that’s for sure.
With Jesus, in theory, Brazil can make him fly to Brazil for assessment. Hope it doesn’t come to that?
We always try to speak to the national teams and find a common sense. The only important thing here is the interest of the player and after, when we have secured that, what is the best interest of the national team and the club.
You said Odegaard is racing against the clock on Wednesday. Has there been any developments on him?
Still racing. He’s trying everything that he can. Let’s see. It’s a possibility.
Think about January do you need more depth?
Some of the injuries that we had, they are some bad luck, some of them have been long-term injuries with some special players and when we didn’t have a lot of depth. We can talk about the depth, but after you have to talk about the specific positions or certain units where we are a little bit shorter. But it is the challenge of the season and other people have to step up, and that as well is a good test for the team - how we take those moments and how we actually respond to that. So far, the team is doing well.
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