Arteta on Arsenal transfers, pre season and Liverpool

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Arteta on Arsenal transfers, pre season and Liverpool  29/07/2024  Subaru Park, Chester, PA, USA

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00:00Ricardo is officially signed, so I'm going to ask you about him again. How pleased are

00:06you to have him through the door now officially?

00:08Yes, very happy. It took a while. He's a player that we have monitored for over a year. We

00:16were really short in the back line last season in terms of numbers and we demanded so much

00:20for them. Willy, for example, played every minute of the Premier League and we believe

00:26that we have to be much more protected. We identified him as a player, as a talent that

00:32can give us skills and qualities that are going to make us better and still designing

00:38a player with a huge capacity still to develop.

00:42He's obviously another very versatile defender in terms of your back line. Do you see him

00:46primarily as a left-back or a centre-back or not really?

00:49Both positions, especially in the way we want to play and the things that we want to evolve

00:55in our game model, he's a player that is going to fit really well for what we want.

01:01You've got Kyle Fiore now at the club, Emile Smith-Rowe on the way out for a good feat

01:07that the club are happy about. Very good business all around, isn't it?

01:10Yes, I'm very happy that we've got Ricardo done. As I said, I think it was very important

01:17to have that reinforcement in the back line considering the issues that we had, especially

01:21last year and once Jurgen was injured. It increases the competition, increases the quality

01:28and very good news for the team.

01:30Another big game against Premier League opposition Liverpool this time. You beat Man Utd.

01:35Are you hoping to kick on and deliver another good result and get plenty out of this game?

01:40Yes, another great test. Again, moving to a different city. Jet lag, we have to adapt

01:45to that. Different pitch, different stadium, different weather conditions. All great.

01:50And obviously against a team with a new manager that I really like, especially the way he

01:57plays, that's going to be very tough. A really good test for us again.

02:02Can I ask you a bit more about Arnold Slop? What do you like about him and what do you

02:05think he'll bring to the Premier League?

02:07I don't know personally, but I watch his past team. First of all, I like a lot the person

02:13and the way he comes across. I heard very good things about players that are probably

02:19the best ones to ask as well. And really impressive as well, the way he sets up his

02:23teams and the clarity and the quality that the teams show. So it's going to be a really

02:29good game.

02:30Can I just ask, Emile's not out there training. There's some talk he might be leaving.

02:34Could you confirm or deny that?

02:37I cannot talk about deals that they haven't done yet.

02:43Jonathan Tannimal from the Philadelphia Inquirer, the local paper here. Welcome to town.

02:48You guys obviously have been in the United States many times, played in a lot of different cities.

02:52When you travel around, do you take some time to see the place and feel how different one

02:57city is from the next? Or is it just come in and work?

03:02Well, when we have the chance, we love to do that and get something from that culture

03:09and things that we can learn from the city and try to implement as well in our team.

03:15But we arrived here last night. We haven't really had time. If we have this afternoon,

03:19we'll try to do something about it. So hopefully, yes.

03:27You seem really happy with the signing you've made, but you know what it's like in football.

03:31It's relentless.

03:32Always more.

03:33Where's next?

03:35Which positions in the field next are you looking to show up to?

03:39Let's see. We have to wait and see the movements in the markets. We already identified things

03:44that we can improve since we had the meetings in February, March, April. And if we can't,

03:52we will try to strengthen the team in the areas that we believe we can get better.

03:57But so far, I'm really happy with what we have.

04:00You mentioned you wanted to improve the defence, but you conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League

04:05last season. What was it about the defence that you felt, actually, we need to bring it on?

04:10Well, especially the numbers. We end up with six defenders in the back line. At this level,

04:14you have to be really lucky to sustain a season at that level like this. And we were because

04:19Willy, for example, and Gary played almost every minute. But Willy played more than 50 per cent

04:25more minutes than the previous season. So if Willy is able to consist of that three or four years,

04:30that's a big question mark. And at this level, you cannot just bet on that.

04:36I think that's a big bet and we didn't want to take that bet.

04:42We know that other clubs wanted Calafiore and he has quite a lot of interest in recent weeks,

04:47but he really wanted to sign for Arsenal. Are you finding that more players are interested

04:52to come? It's easier to attract players to Arsenal when you first started?

04:55That was great when I spoke to him one or two times and I knew the other things and

04:59I wasn't really sure whether we could do it or not. He was adamant. Let me know when

05:05you're ready. My bags are ready and I just want to come to Arsenal. That were his words.

05:09And when you have that feeling, you know, and someone with that willingness to join

05:15us to make us better and that determination, that's something really powerful. And I think

05:20as a club, we should be very proud of that.

05:23I'm not sure if you're aware of the reputation that Philadelphia sports fans have in America

05:29and some of the most passionate fans in the country. I don't think it's any coincidence

05:32that there's a lot of Arsenal fans here. In your experience, how is the support from

05:36the fans in America compared to those back home?

05:39Well, it's been great. It is different because the way they lift and the way the atmosphere

05:43is created in the stadium is very different to the Premier League. But again, it was unbelievable

05:49when we played two or three days ago in the Sofia Stadium and I'm sure that I heard that

05:55here it's going to be really, really good as well.

06:09Yeah, at the end you want to integrate the player within your culture, within your team,

06:15within your model as quick as possible and that requires a little bit of time, especially

06:19when you move from a different country. We have signed recently quite a lot of players

06:24that were already in the Premier League. That facilitates and makes things easier. With

06:28other players it can take a little bit longer. But he's in a really good place. His English

06:33is really good. He already has a big understanding of what we want because I already explained

06:38it to him and he's so excited. So, let's go day by day.

06:42Just want to ask you about the guys who aren't here. Are you confident you're going to have

06:47them for the opening weekend of the season?

06:51I'm very confident because when I spoke to them they really want to be part of it as

06:55quick as possible and they are really preparing to be ready to come, not to start preparing

07:01when they come back, which is very different.

07:04What date did they join up?

07:06At the end of this week.

07:12Can we expect to see Riccardo Calafiori playing against Liverpool?

07:16On Wednesday? Good question. I don't know. He had a long flight yesterday, had a medical

07:22so the last 48 hours they've been quite busy for him. Today he hasn't really done anything

07:27with the team. Tomorrow he will probably train some parts. Let's see how it is. We don't

07:32want to rush anything. If he's available and feels great, he might play a few minutes.

07:36But if we think he's still not ready, we're not going to push him.

07:41Thanks very much everyone.

07:43One more? You have a question?

07:46We saw last season a huge investment in Devlin Rice. If a special player came up on the market

07:55this summer, are Arsenal able to go to that sort of level again this summer?

08:00We don't expect to do anything like it at this moment. That's the reality.

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