Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta met with reporters, via a virtual news conference, today ahead of Saturday night’s Community Shield match against Liverpool at Wembley Stadium.
During the media session staged, primarily, for the purpose of discussing the curtain raiser, Arteta gave updates on the futures of three players: Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, Gabriel Magalhaes and Dani Ceballos. It’s time for an edition of Arsenal transfer talk that gives you information right from the horse’s mouth!
Community Shield FYIs
Kickoff: Saturday, August 29, 11:30am ET, Wembley Stadium, London
Arsenal starting XI prediction: go to this link
Arsenal FC Team News: go to this link
Liverpool FC Team News, Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Odds: Liverpool -148, Arsenal +375, Draw into shootout +310
Let’s start with Aubameyang, who has now established himself as the best overall player in the side. His brace in the FA Cup semifinal against Manchester City and the final against Chelsea powered the north London club into European compeition for next season.
Re-signing the striker is the number one priority of the summer, and all along Arteta has maintained an optimistic attitude that this deal will get closed.
“I keep being positive, we have had some really good talks with him and his agent,” said the boss entering his first full season on the job.
“I’m confident we will find an agreement soon. He should be very happy that he will be staying at the club for a long time.”
Moving on to Magalhaes, the Lille central defender has been linked with several clubs this summer, but the Gunners have been consistently reported the front-runners. Numerous reports have indicated this deal is imminent, but of course, it’s still not over the line, as of yet.
“We’re trying to finalise the deal,” said Arteta as he gave an update on the situation. “Everything is ok only when both parties agree.”
“We’re pretty positive.”
“He’s a player we followed and were determined that he was the right profile for us to improve our squad. When we get it [over the line] we’ll be very pleased.”
And finally, with Ceballos, Arteta made it clear that Real Madrid are the ones in charge when it comes to determining where the midfielder will play football this upcoming season.
“He was pretty clear with me that his intention was to remain with us but obviously Real Madrid is involved,” Arteta said.
“I don’t know yet what they want to do with the player, but he’s a player that we are interested in because we really saw, in the last few months of the season, what he is capable of bringing to us.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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