MERINO IS PUSHING TO BE ON FIELD! | MIKEL ARTETA | Arsenal vs Leicester
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 Published On Sep 27, 2024

David Raya’s chances of making the game:
We have to wait 24 hours to see if he's looking good or not that good.

on whether he would want to risk him ahead of PSG on Tuesday:
It’s not about taking a risk, it’s about a player being fit and available or not. When we have that clarity for Leicester, which is the main thing that we are thinking about at the moment, we will make a decision tomorrow.

on Jurrien Timber and Ben White’s availability:
Jurrien was able to take part in training today so that's that's good news. He will be available in the squad, and Ben hopefully as well.

on Mikel Merino’s progression:
Tomorrow is too soon, the next week we will see. He had partial training today, he’s been working so hard and is looking good. It is just about the healing of that bone and how mature that is to expose him to contact.

on his relationship with Pep Guardiola following last week’s game:
I love him, I respect him and I admire him, his team and everything that he does. This is a sport - one thing is our profession and the other is our personal relationship. If my relationship has to be damaged because we play against each other and one draws or the one wins, or the amount of times that we have lost then I wouldn't talk to him any more. So that's not our relationship, especially the relationship that I consider that both of us have. Sport will never get in my way of a personal relationship.

on if it’s harder to maintain that when the games are so fiery:
It depends, if those accusations affect you then maybe they are true. If they don't and you know, you show your integrity and you do what you believe is right, it doesn't have to be our opinions. If you don't like opinions then you shouldn't be sitting in the position that I am, so I think it's quite simple - don't take it personally, it's part of our job. The things that you really care about, make sure you handle them in the right way. That relationship, I really care about. It’s the same with a lot of people in their staff and players that I spent some very important years of my life with.

on if it’s harder because he was previously with them all at Man City:
No, I think it makes it easier because I know them in very different situations, and when you get to know that person in the good and bad when things go their way or don't, then you understand much better their certain reaction. For me, it's not a surprise and I'm very comfortable with that.

on how we’ve performed with Martin Odegaard:
If you put me in this scenario before I started this season with the calendar that we were given, the fixtures that we had, the three away games that we had and the amount of injuries that we had to deal with and how we got out of that, I would be very, very pleased. It’s not just Martin, obviously he’s one of our best players and a player that has more impact on the team in many ways, but there were many others as well and the team has coped extremely well because we have an exceptional group. A lot of players have taken a different role in the leadership, in their importance in the team and they embrace that challenge. I'm really happy for that.

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