Arteta Addresses Arsenal's Transfer Departures with Respect
Mikel Arteta has moved to shut down claims of cold treatment behind two of Arsenal’s biggest summer departures, insisting the club handled the exits of Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli with honesty and respect.
The Arsenal manager faced questions after Jesus publicly complained about the manner of his £12.5m move to Barcelona, saying “nobody told me anything” when he was told to train away from the first team before the transfer was completed. The fallout grew when club legend Ian Wright criticised how Martinelli was frozen out before his £60m switch to Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League.
Arteta, speaking on Friday, did not hide his surprise.
“Very surprised, to be fair, especially because with Gabi [Jesus] I had an individual talk in the dressing room,” he said. “I don’t know what words were said, it is fine.”
He stressed that, from his perspective, those final conversations with Jesus were anything but hostile.
“The words we used for each other, it was all about gratitude,” Arteta explained. “I don’t know, it is OK. Sometimes I understand when you have to deliver bad news or news that people don’t expect, those things you can react to.”
The implication was clear: hard decisions were made, but not in silence.
Arteta then reached for a recent example to show that a transfer does not have to poison a relationship. Leandro Trossard left for Besiktas in a £15m deal this summer, yet the Belgian was back in the Emirates Stadium dressing room after Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Chelsea, laughing and embracing his former team-mates.
For Arteta, that image matters.
“Somebody has to be the bad cop,” he said. “If I have to be, I have to be and I understand. What is important is normally what happens three months later, six months later, when Trossard comes in, he is in the dressing room with us, the atmosphere and the relationship you have.”
That is the time frame he is banking on with Jesus and Martinelli. Feelings are raw now; he expects them to soften.
“Things got so far with other players that they left, at some point the relationship has been really good,” he said. “I hope that is the same case.”
For all the noise around ex-players, Arsenal have little room for distraction. They head to Sunderland on Saturday night looking to extend a perfect start to the season, their confidence sharpened by a statement Champions League victory away to Napoli on Wednesday.
Arteta delivered a key fitness bulletin from that bruising night in Italy. Ben White, who limped late on, is “fine” and in contention. Cristhian Mosquera is being monitored as he battles a muscular issue, with the medical team still assessing whether he can feature.
The debate over departures will rumble on. Arteta knows that. But his focus is fixed on a simpler question: can Arsenal keep winning while the background drama refuses to die down?
