Arteta on Saka's fitness and return and Arsenal's new sporting director

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta on Saka's fitness and return and Arsenal's new sporting director  31/03/2025  Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK

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00:00Do you feel it was a big summer, a very exciting summer ahead, perhaps you could push on again?

00:14Yeah, well, the way we planned the five first summers, it was going to be very big and they

00:22were going to have different objectives because the turnaround of players and the objectives

00:26of those windows were going to be different. But now when you're going to go again, first

00:31of all, we need to increase the depth on the squad, but as well you want to increase certain

00:36quality and skills that we need to now go to the next step. It is going to be a big

00:42one and we are very excited about it.

00:45Is it becoming more common to have surgery? Is that to prevent further issues down the

00:59line? How confident are you that long term he can be exactly, perhaps better than the

01:05player that we've already seen?

01:07Yeah, well, unfortunately, that's true, it's becoming more recurrent. So that tells you

01:13that there is something that is changing and we are obviously analysing that data, it's

01:18still quite small. But then, yeah, at the end you have to weigh the risk and reward

01:22of having the surgery. And we believe that a player that is so explosive, that makes

01:28that many actions at high speed, a lot of details, and we are not sure in that area

01:35whether the muscle, the tendon can sustain that load. It was an easy decision to say,

01:40what is the opinion of the specialist? It was 100% that one. So in that case, even if

01:45it's going to take a little bit longer, we have to go through that route.

01:50Do you mean that you mapped out the summer's five years in advance?

01:55Yeah, well, we expected, because in the beginning there are a lot of players with three, four,

02:00five years contracts. So the turnaround of a squad and how you visualise the next three,

02:06four, five years are very dependent on what's going to happen here. So I think they were

02:11very, very different. And the way you start to evolve and you start to master certain

02:15things and compete with certain things, the changes, they cannot be that much. And that's

02:21where we are. When the line now is thinner, the margins are smaller, but the cost of that

02:26as well increases. So it goes a little bit in a different direction.

02:31You've sort of seen this summer, 2025, for quite some time, you thought this would be a big summer to invest in?

02:39It's not about only investing, because there are certain positions that probably we didn't

02:45expect that we're going to have someone like Ethan or Miles contributing to that, which

02:51has been great. And we have more of those, beautiful, but there were some turnaround

02:55on players that it was quite evident that it was going to happen for different reasons.

03:01And just quickly on Miles, he's got this amazing ability to protect the ball and use his body.

03:06Is that something that you've coached him or has he just had that naturally and where

03:10does it come from?

03:11That's something that is natural on him. He's always been very comfortable. When he's playing

03:16midfield, running past players and holding people away from him and very far from the

03:20ball is a natural thing. When he plays in defence, he needs some coaching in relation

03:25to what spaces he's defending and especially with wingers coming in certain ways, but he

03:30does that naturally really well.

03:33Because of the serious injury, do you think in the future he may have to actually adapt

03:39his game, not be as explosive in goal and the outside may become shorter a bit more?

03:43Do you think that will naturally have to be his game with this injury?

03:47No, I think if you look at the consistency levels and the amount of games Mino has played,

03:53very little to change that. Sometimes these things happen and it happens to the best players

03:58and it doesn't mean it has to happen again. He needs to be fully aware that obviously

04:03everything is increasing, the level, the speed, the time you have to execute is shorter. So

04:08you want to do it slower, forget about it because you're not going to be efficient.

04:12So you're going to have to do it probably faster. So faster is going to be sharper,

04:16it's going to be at the maximum speed and you have to train and prepare for that.

04:20I'm sure during your career you've had a handful of injuries. On that first game back

04:24after a handful of injuries, how nervous are you? Are you constantly thinking about it,

04:29feeling it, hoping it doesn't go?

04:31No, because he's done everything. He's done everything many times already. He needs

04:36exposure on the game, but all the boxes that he had to tick are there. Those concerns normally

04:42are when you are rushing an injury and it's a three-week injury and after ten days you

04:46want to put yourself on that pitch and then you're just almost praying, saying he doesn't

04:51want to go. But I think he's been really good in the process and we have a lot of reassurance

04:56that he can do very well now.

05:00You said that a player as young as Miles scoring on his England debut or international debut

05:05is an unusual thing, but in a sense it's in keeping with his rise this season under you.

05:13I'm sure it surprised you, but it can't surprise you that much. I mean, you just take it for

05:16a mini-challenge like that.

05:18Yeah, but I mean, it keeps being surprising. It's like the same as what they did on Ethan,

05:23especially because those two come from a development when they haven't had any professional football.

05:30So that's very uncommon. In other leagues you play in the Championship, you've been

05:34on loan, you have a lot of players, they've been really young, top clubs in England but

05:38they have loaned spells. These guys, they haven't played any professional football in

05:42their career. So it's like go from karting to Formula One the next day and go with that.

05:48And that's exceptional.

05:51And on Andrea, how confident does his arrival make you in terms of getting the centre-forward

05:56that you'd like in the summer, but also more broadly the transfer recruitment that you'd

06:01like over the next few years?

06:04What I'm very confident about is how he's going to make everybody better. That's my

06:11confidence. Because the way he is, the personality he has, the way he talks about and how passionate

06:17he is about what he does, that's what we need. New blood with people that are so ambitious,

06:24that they are so attached to the football club and what we already do, but want to add

06:29value. That's what I'm very confident with.

06:33In terms of the league, if it does end up becoming mathematically impossible to finish

06:37top of the table, is your target second place or is it an altitude where you're finishing

06:42that top four? Because there's a number of teams now that are obviously trying to catch

06:45on to the football.

06:47I appreciate the question. Hopefully we're not going to get there. If we get there one

06:52day we can discuss about that. Now the focus is about just winning against Fulham.

06:57Is there a difference between the positions 1-4 or do you see it as one and then anything

07:01within 2-4 is just the position?

07:04The target position is one. After that, let's see.

07:07In terms of Ethan Wanara, of course, Saka is now about cards. Has Ethan's role potentially

07:12changed this season and maybe at the start of next season too?

07:16Like with the other ones, at the start of the season he had a situation but he proved

07:20everybody that he was ready and he deserved more minutes. It's about the impact that you

07:25have in training and in games when you have the opportunity to play, to show. If someone

07:30shows they can impact the game and help us to win football matches, he will be on that

07:34pitch.

07:35What's he been like in terms of his recovery around the team? It's not just about getting

07:41back to full fitness, he's evolving around the players as well. What's that been like

07:45to him?

07:46It's been great, for example. With Ethan and with other players, the support that he's

07:50given, the time he spends with them, giving them advice, being around the team, how positive

07:55he's been always around it. It's good to see a side of a player that has a huge role in

08:01the team, where he's not able to be in practice, where he's not able to contribute in game,

08:06how he actually behaves. That's why it's been so special.

08:10You said you're expecting a big summer. Can you put a number on how many players you think

08:18you need to bridge that gap to first place?

08:22I said as well that the last five were big. Every summer is big because it's an opportunity

08:27and especially with the number of players that we have in the squad right now, that

08:31is necessary. But it's a big summer for many things because first you have to maintain

08:35all the good foundations that we have, and then obviously how can we improve and evolve

08:40the team.

08:42With Saka and Saliba coming for two years after their contract, how important is it

08:48to get those guys to sign a new deal as leaders of the club?

08:53That's very good, but now I'm going to leave all those questions for Andrea and make sure

08:57that he has his place and his role and he can fulfil it. Hopefully my influence will

09:04be in other aspects.

09:19We played once but before that he had six consecutive sessions with the team and it

09:23was good. We played that game and he felt completely fine. We have managed to replicate

09:31almost every scenario. At the end you need that, a 60,000 stadium, a different competitive

09:36level, a referee and play that game.

09:41What have you missed with him not being on the pitch?

09:52Obviously we talked about it before, there is not a single play in that squad that has

09:56reduced the number of guys in the last three seasons. That's it. That's him. We have done

10:01it in various ways and we have remained very competitive without him and without many other

10:08players. That's a big credit and how strong the team is as a we, even though some very

10:15important individuals are missing.

10:26Sorry, I'm going to pretend I need you to do your own thing.

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