Football News | Mikel Arteta talks to press ahead of Community Shield
Mikel Arteta has been talking to the press ahead of this weekend's Community Shield against Manchester City
This is the first time Arsenal have been in the traditional season curtain-raiser since beating City in 2023
Author | DJ
Arteta confirmed Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Martin Zubimendi are expected to be fit to feature on Sunday: "They will be available, they trained with us today. They will train tomorrow and if they are in a condition we expect them to be, they will be involved."
He also gave an update on Jurrien Timber's recovery:
"Jurrien is progressing really well. He is on the pitch, we are ramping up now - the volume and the load. I think he is in a good trajectory but there are still a few weeks to go."
"I don't know, we will have to see. He needs to start to train with the group - in the next week or so, hopefully - and see how he progresses from there. It has been a long-term issue and right now we want to make sure every step we take is the right one. It feels right to do that - he is such an important player for us."
On William Saliba:
"William, as we know, is a more long-term injury."
Arteta was asked about reported interest in England defenders Ezri Konsa and Jarrel Quansah: "I cannot comment. We want to improve the squad and we have detected areas that we can strengthen and we hope we can do it."
On potential incomings during the rest of the transfer window:
"I am not going to talk about an individual but what I can obviously tell you is [about] the ambition of the club. It is big that we want to improve the squad, we want to evolve the squad, in order to achieve. We have detected some areas that they can be a strength in - that is what we are trying to do."
"It's a very exciting part of the season as well. When a lot of things happen, it creates excitement. There is an opportunity as well to evolve. It is always the case, there is an opportunity to go both ways. We have to see how the market responds and what, as a club, we can do."
Asked whether the Community Shield is a friendly:
"It is a trophy that we can have. We won [a trophy] last year through the Premier League. You can tell how hungry the players are, which is a good sign."
On how his players have returned ahead of the new season:
"I love the way the players have come back, most of them earlier than expected, really fit. We have done all the testing and they all seem in great condition. And the moment they start to look at each other, I said look at the squad that we have and what we are building. There is a lot of excitement around them."
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