🗣️| Granit Xhaka on going to Switzerland to receive the Player of the Year award for🇨🇭
“My coach Mikel Arteta sent me here. He told me that I absolutely had to pick up this prize in person. I really appreciate that I get such freedom from the coach.” [20min]
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🗣️| Tomiyasu: “We are a young squad and I feel like I’m part of the family. I remember the game against Man City at home I made a mistake and I gave them the first goal, but after that everyone came to me and just told me to keep my head up. They helped me a lot.” [
@arsenal
]
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🗣️| Jorginho on Granit Xhaka: “I asked him the other day where I could go for dinner around here and he booked me and didn't let me pay as well. I was like ‘Ok, thank you very much.’ Ha ha ha.”
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🗣️| Zinchenko: “I love this winning, you know? The winning feeling in the last minute, the last second. It’s something you cannot describe. Today was unbelievable. I need to watch it again before I go to bed because these are the magic moments.” [BBC]
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🗣️| Granit Xhaka: “Gunners, it's been some journey - and all that's left is for me to say thank you.
“I've spent seven years at Arsenal. The club has become such an important part of my life - and it's not easy to leave.
“But now is the right time for a new adventure.
There are…
🗣️| Paul Merson on Bukayo Saka: “He's not the player that gets a hat-trick against a side bottom of the league or he's not grabbing the seventh goal in a 7-0 win. At Arsenal, he's getting the first goal, the equaliser or the winner. He's getting assists at crucial moments.” [Sky]
🗣️| Chris Sutton: “Saka is winning the battle on the right. Salah has not been the same footballing force for Liverpool this season. Mahrez is incredibly talented for Man City but I would rank Saka ahead of him. And I won’t be taking any suggestions of Antony seriously — the…
🗣️| Mikel Arteta on Zinchenko as captain vs Leicester.
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“It was great because it was an initiative from the players. Martin [Ødegaard] came to me yesterday and they wanted to have that gesture with him.
“Today we wanted to win for him, for his loved ones, and for all…
🚨| Man City will not sell any more first-team stars to Arsenal. Questions are being asked at Man City about why they allowed two first-teamers (Gabriel Jesus & Zinchenko) to join a rival who are now their biggest competition to win the title.” [
@footyinsider247
]
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🗣️| Jamie Carragher: “When Man City score in the last minute we say ‘great mentality’, but because it's Arsenal we're saying ‘oh, they're choking, they've got to score in the last minute because they're not playing well enough’. But that narrative will change if they win the…
🗣️| Thierry Henry had a message for Bukayo Saka last week:
“Big players are not nice. If you wanna be big, if you wanna be the guy… big players are not nice.” [Amazon Prime, Feb. 14]
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🗣️| Zinchenko: “My first-team debut for Arsenal was in the Premier League away to Crystal Palace.
“My wife was there that night watching me from the stands. She couldn’t believe that after just five minutes the fans were singing a song for me.” [
@arsenal
]
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🗣️| Gabriel Martinelli: “Like I’ve said before, this is my home now. Sometimes when I speak to my mum I tell her that I want to stay in London and maybe even stay here after football, you never know. But I love it here. She’s like ‘ahhh you need to come back to Brazil sometimes…
🗣️| Martin Ødegaard on taking the penalty vs Crystal Palace:
“We have been taking [penalties] in pre-season a lot and I’ve scored all of mine, so I just asked him [Bukayo Saka] and he gave it to me. So I have to thank him for that one.” [via Metro]
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🗣️| Trossard on settling at Arsenal: “I maybe didn't expect to make that many minutes, but injuries [to the team] helped me a bit.
“I’m more than convinced of my own capabilities. I arrived in a great group, filled with great players.”
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🗣️| Mikel Arteta on the reception Granit Xhaka received: “Well deserved. He’s had an incredible season. One year back I told him there is a question mark on you, you have to deliver more, you have to be better.
“He went back and trained the next day, then came back in…
🗣️| Declan Rice: “As an outsider looking at Manchester United vs Arsenal over the years, you understand the heritage, the game, the big players who have played in this game.
“I was really focused, knew what today meant and wanted to give it my all. We were knocking at the door…
🗣️| Gary Neville on Martin Ødegaard: “It takes a lot to say this but when you think of the most beautiful football players that we’ve watched in the last seven or eight years in the Premier League I always think of David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne being just something you watch…
🗣️| Matt Turner on advice to David Raya:
“Work hard, it's not going to be easy. No matter how well you train, make the most of your opportunities, I guess, but Aaron [Ramsdale is] a really great goalkeeper, but I guess also the culture.
“You need to understand the culture of…
🗣️| Mikel Arteta on if Smith Rowe’s substitution was planned:
“We didn’t plan to throw him in so early in the game. We knew it was difficult for him to last for 70 minutes on the field after missing almost five months of football. I think he had a good impact in the game.”
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🗣️| Mikel Arteta: “It’s not easy to throw Rob [Holding] into this level after months of inactivity but he was really, really good again today and I am happy because we need everyone.
“We had injuries unfortunately in the last few months, long-term injuries, and the team somehow…
🗣️| Ødegaard: “Our defeat against them [Newcastle] late last season was definitely one of the worst days we’ve had in recent seasons. It was the day we missed out on the Champions League, it hurt and I’m sure we won’t need any more motivation going into this game.” [
@arsenal
]
🗣️| Gabriel Jesus on Eddie Nketiah: “First of all, competition is always good - for me and for him. In all positions when you have competition it's a good thing.
“From day one, I'm a big fan of Eddie because of the way he works and the way he trains is amazing. It's not easy to…
🗣️| Micah Richards: “It's a strange thing to have sympathy for someone after you have watched them light up your Sunday but that was my first feeling for Martin Odegaard.
“If it hadn't been for Erling Haaland, Arsenal's captain would be odds-on for Player of the Year.
“He…
🗣️| Aaron Ramsdale on Declan Rice:
“He hasn’t stopped smiling!
“I’ve just been asked in a different interview if it’ll take the pressure off his shoulders, but I’m not too sure if he feels any pressure.
“It’s great that he’s got a goal so early on, we want him to score more,…
🗣️| Leandro Trossard: “When I chose Arsenal, I knew it was going to be harder. I am now at a top club where only good players walk around. The season is still long. I do know that my chances are still coming and that I will get minutes.
“The club has also bought in more, just…
🗣️| Guardiola: “The advantage of Arsenal is he [Arteta] has not to win the Premier League from 20 points in front in November. The way they played against Newcastle again impressed me a lot. They dropped two points but they didn’t drop the quality [with which] they played.” [MEN]
🗣️| Mikel Arteta on what a win like this can do for belief in the title race:
“That’s four in a row - winning four games in a row in the Premier League is very difficult. We’ve won three in a week, which is even harder, and we’ve done it in various ways. That should generate…
🗣️| Micah Richards: “[Bukayo] Saka is one of the main reasons Arsenal are challenging for the title and, regardless of whether they win it from here, he has just been unbelievable and he seems to just get better and better.
“He is a winger but unlike, say Anthony at Manchester…
🗣️| Zinchenko on Saka: “Bukayo is an unbelievable player, all the full backs from the other teams know he’s so dangerous, so they try to provoke him, tackle him and the referees should know this.” [
@MirrorFootball
]
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🗣️| Mikel Arteta on Reiss Nelson:
“Football-wise, it was my decision not to put him in the squad in the last two games because we had other options.
“But he’s knocking on the door. He’s been training really well and it’s a good lesson for me and the coaches that we need him…
🗣️| Ødegaard on Rodri’s tackle: “I’m pretty sure I should have had a penalty. He’s coming with his studs right on my ankle. I’m sure I’ll get punished [if I say anymore]. 🇳🇴
“I don’t bother saying anything else about the referee. It’s better not to say anything.” [TV2 via Metro]
🗣️| Saliba: “We know we have a big game this week [Man Utd]. They are the only team to beat us this season in the Premier League and we want to beat them again at home.
“We will prepare very good for this game I think, and I hope we will win in front of our fans.” [Standard]
🗣️| Tony Cascarino on Bukayo Saka: “When you think that he missed that penalty in the final of Euro 2020 against Italy, comes back, becomes a star for his club, shines at the 2022 World Cup and is now playing a central role in Arsenal’s title charge. He’s only 21, not 22 until…
🚨| Bukayo Saka has told Arsenal he wants to stay at the club.
The Gunners are closing in on securing Saka to a new contract worth a minimum £10million-a-year.
“Sportsmail understands significant progress towards an agreement has been made in recent weeks… The principles of…
🗣️| Ødegaard on Trossard: “When he comes in, quality players like Trossard, I think it will help the team. He can play many different positions and you saw his quality today straightaway. He’ll definitely help the team & we’re happy to have him on board, in the family.” [Express]
🗣️| Mikel Arteta: “I’m a really young coach but I have talked to coaches who have been in sometimes different sports for 50 years and one day I asked them one question: ‘Have you ever coached a player that has fulfilled, in your opinion, his potential?’ And the answer from all…
🗣️| Paul Parker: “I think that every club in the world would like Zinchenko in their team. He makes such a big difference for Arsenal. He is leading the game together with Odegaard and I think that he is very underrated. He’s one of the best players in the league in my opinion.”
🚨| Arsenal are interested in a surprise loan deal for Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga. It is unclear if Real Madrid would sanction a loan move, but the 20-year-old has struggled for minutes this season, reports
@sr_collings
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🗣️| Edu Gaspar when asked if he’s starting to believe Arsenal can win the title: “We internally never mentioned anything about the title. We are always talking about performing.
“How can we perform better every week? Mikel [Arteta] will send those messages to say, ‘Guys. I want…
🗞️| Shakhtar's winger Mudryk has agreed personal terms on a five-year contract with Arsenal.
The clubs continue negotiations on the transfer of the player, according to Sport Arena.
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🗣️| Declan Rice on
#CRYARS
:
“Against Nottingham Forest we played a diamond in midfield and I was on the left of the diamond and tonight I was the single pivot so I dropped back one spot.
“But in the last four weeks I have learned so much, I am learning different ways of…
🗣️| Ben White on the Man City result: “I don't watch football, so I was just focussed on the game today and that was it. There's a lot of noise going on outside, and everyone is just keeping it very quiet and just getting on with what we are doing.
“I don't really know what's…
🗣️| Kai Havertz on scoring the winner vs Brentford:
“I was just hoping that Ben [White] would find me and it was a very nice cross. I was very free in the box and then obviously also a bit lucky with the goalkeeper but it was a very nice assist from Ben.
“As a kid, I think you…
🗣️| Bukayo Saka on the win vs Man Utd: “You can see how much it means to everyone. They're the only team that have beaten us this season so we really wanted to beat them for the fans.” [Sky]
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🗣️| Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink on Martin Ødegaard: “He’s a different player than De Bruyne but he has always got a solution, you know.
“When he comes in a tight space he finds the right solution – and very calmly. He doesn’t have as many assists as De Bruyne because he’s not that…
🗣️ Granit Xhaka: “I was joking with Alex Zinchenko in the warm-up [vs Bournemouth]. They were singing his name after just three weeks at Arsenal. I told him ‘Alex I’ve been here for six years and I don’t have a song and you have just got here and you do!’” [via
@Arsenal
]
🗣️| Granit Xhaka: “If you see us on the training pitch day by day, how much we care, how much we work, it starts with everything, Mikel [Arteta] changed even the food. He changed a lot of food… Our body fat dropped massively! They are small details where in the end are massive.”…
🗣️| Fabio Vieira on winning the Community Shield: “It feels great. It’s my first trophy for this club, and I’m very happy to win this trophy. It’s time to rest and enjoy it.
“We are a team that will always believe it’s possible to score until the final [minute], and we…
🗣️| Pep Guardiola on Mikel Arteta: “I’m so satisfied about his success. Because still he doesn’t know how much me, I learn, being alongside him [at City] in the two years, two and a half when we were together.” [BT Sport]
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🗣️| Mikel Arteta on Jorginho’s performance vs Aston Villa:
“I certainly didn’t see that quality of his - scoring from deep! It’s great to do that. The biggest quality he has is he makes the rest of the people look better, better than what you actually are.” [
@arsenal
]
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🗣️| William Saliba: “I went to the World Cup, I didn't play, but it's okay - I still smile. It was my first experience. I am young and to be in this France squad is so hard, so I was happy. It makes me hungry to be in the next tournament.
“Then I came back and I have this little…
🗣️| Mikel Arteta on Kai Havertz vs Man City:
“He was superb, the way he pressed and how intelligent he is to try and understand certain spaces and the timing of it.
“He was great and got in great positions to score. He was unlucky not to score but he was very physical when he…
🗣️| Fabio Vieira: “I want to develop a lot, to improve a lot in my physical and my defensive position. I think I can be better, and I’m here to do it.
“In England, it’s more physical, and in Portugal, it’s more technical. You have to adapt… After a few months, I developed a…
🗣️| Fabio Vieira: “I didn’t know Gabi Martinelli before I came here, but after that we started to have a good friendship.
“He’s a good person with a good heart, and we felt a connection between us from the beginning.” [
@arsenal
]
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🗣️| Zinchenko: “I was a striker myself when I started. Then I was a left winger, then midfield, now a left-back. Maybe I will finish as a centre-back or a goalkeeper?!” [
@arsenal
]
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