Arsenal News
Martinelli Learns the Hard Edge of Arteta’s Arsenal
Martinelli faces an unforgiving reality as Arteta reshapes Arsenal and questions over treatment grow.
Gabriel Martinelli has found out how uncompromising Mikel Arteta can be when the Arsenal manager decides a player no longer fits the direction of travel.
Arteta has long carried a hard edge, something Neil Banfield once noted when reflecting on the coach’s temperament. “He’s got a bit of Arsène about him,” Banfield said of Arteta during an interview with The Athletic . “The similarities are in the character they are. You don’t mess with them.”
Martinelli is the latest to discover that. After reportedly resisting the club’s attempts to move him on this summer, he was left out of matchday preparations. That situation was then deepened by his Community Shield oversight and, more recently, by his omission from the matchday squad for Friday’s Premier League opener against Coventry City.
Arteta has made clear that change is part of the job. “We all know, everything has a start and has an end,” he said earlier this week when discussing departures of established players. He also stated: “We need to bring more skill and quality to the squad.” For a winger built on pace rather than subtlety, Martinelli appears to have been caught in that shift.
His best scoring season came in 2022-23, when Arsenal were still able to exploit space before rivals settled into deeper defensive shapes. In recent seasons, though, that space has largely disappeared. “There’s no space to run,” Arteta said at the time. “When you’re sitting in traffic, I want to go 100 miles an hour but I have three buses and 55 taxis and motorbikes around me, so it’s tricky.”
Last season, Martinelli managed only 11 Premier League starts and scored once. With Arsenal seeking to raise funds and already carrying Christos Tzolis and Eberechi Eze, plus the possibility of another left winger arriving, his future has come under obvious pressure.
Arteta has handled difficult exits before, including Mesut Özil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Bernd Leno and Aaron Ramsdale. In this case, however, some supporters feel the process has been too blunt.
“You need to face that reality,” Arteta said. “But you need to face it with real honesty and transparency because when you are on the other side, that’s exactly what you need. You might not like what you’ve been told, but if it’s truthful, if it’s the reality, if it’s honest and it’s going to help you to make better decisions and have more clarity for the next steps in your career, you have to do that. These are always very difficult conversations, but they need to be done.”
Ian Wright, though, said Martinelli has “not been spoken to” and “doesn’t know what’s going on.” He added: “With respect to Martinelli and the way Martinelli’s been treated at the moment, it really makes me feel uncomfortable,” before stressing, “He always gives 100%—not saying he’s the greatest—he’s really come up with some big moments for Arsenal, some big games and scored some very important goals.
“The way he’s been treated at the end here … there’s ways of doing that, and it should suit him as well.”
Arsenal
Arsenal face fresh defensive uncertainty after international break setbacks
Arsenal’s defensive options improve in training, but Konsa’s injury concern leaves Saturday in doubt.
Arsenal head into the September-October international break with their defensive picture still unsettled, even if there has been some welcome movement in training. The week has brought both encouragement and concern, with Ezri Konsa’s withdrawal from the England squad standing out as the main worry.
There is better news on Ben White, Piero Hincapié and Cristhian Mosquera, all of whom are back on the training pitch. White and Mosquera were unavailable for Arsenal’s 3–0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion before club football paused, while Hincapié was named among the substitutes for that match and then did not report for Ecuador duty.
Konsa’s situation is more troubling. According to England manager Thomas Tuchel, the defender had been carrying discomfort in recent weeks, which suggests his involvement for the Three Lions was always a risk. He played 90 minutes against Spain, missed the win over Czechia, and then completed another full match in the victory over Croatia.
“Ezri came into camp with discomfort. [He] played against Spain which made it worse. He stayed in camp and tried everything for the match in Croatia and gave the green light,” Tuchel explained, which is sure to annoy Arsenal fans.
“Unfortunately, he got another hit on the quad and it caused some light trauma. We decided to not let him play through the pain again. Nothing major but not worth taking the risk.”
That leaves a question mark over Konsa’s availability for Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Leeds United. He was brought in late in the summer window and has already been used next to Gabriel because William Saliba is sidelined with a back injury. Saliba is not expected back until November at the earliest, so Mosquera may be the next option to step in, even if his match fitness is uncertain.
White and Hincapié are natural centre backs who have been adapted since joining the club, though White could still be required at right back. Jurrien Timber started against Brighton and played for an hour before being replaced by Martín Zubimendi, who has become a familiar defensive option despite being out of favour in midfield. Timber, who has spent an estimated 461 days injured since arriving in the summer of 2023, is aware of the need for caution.
“I have to be very smart about the steps we take. Otherwise, I’ll suffer a setback, and I don’t want that,” Timber told reporters this week.
Arsenal
Gyokeres Reaffirms Arsenal Commitment After Nations League Run
Gyokeres denies summer exit talk, but his Arsenal minutes remain limited as his Sweden form keeps rising.
Viktor Gyokeres has dismissed the summer speculation around his Arsenal future, insisting he never seriously considered moving on and was always settled at the club.
The striker said the noise around him did not change his thinking during the break between seasons. He pointed to a full preseason and a clear focus on Arsenal, adding that his decision was never in doubt. “Of course, there was a lot of speculation,” he confessed. “But I had a full preseason and it felt good. I was fully focused on Arsenal. For me, staying was a given. I’m extremely happy at the club.”
There is, however, a separate issue that may shape the coming weeks. Gyokeres has not yet enjoyed the regular league minutes he might have expected at the start of the campaign. Cup matches have provided opportunities, but Havertz has remained the preferred starter in the Premier League.
That frustration is not hidden. Earlier in this international break, Gyokeres admitted: “It’s clear that I want to play football—and as much as possible,” Gyokeres admitted earlier in this international break.
His international form has offered a sharp contrast. Gyokeres scored in Sweden’s 1-1 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday, making it three goals from three games during this break. More significantly, he has become the first striker to score in six straight UEFA Nations League matches, a run that includes goals and an assist against Estonia and Slovakia, plus four goals against Azerbaijan toward the end of 2024.
With the Premier League set to resume next weekend, an injury to Havertz, who left Germany duty last week, could open the door for Gyokeres to press his case in front of Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal News
Xhaka withdrawn from Switzerland squad after admitting forged Covid certificate
Xhaka is out of Switzerland’s squad after admitting he obtained a forged Covid-19 certificate in 2022.
Granit Xhaka has been taken out of Switzerland’s squad for the rest of this international window after acknowledging that he obtained a forged Covid-19 vaccination certificate in 2022.
Xhaka said the decision was “not the right course of action” and described it as a “mistake.” He also issued an apology, but the matter has moved beyond a public statement. Before posting his message as an Instagram story, he had already been in contact with the Swiss Football Association (SFV).
The issue resurfaced after Blick ran the headline last Friday, ‘Did Xhaka buy a fake Covid certificate?’ The report said the document was obtained from a doctor in Lucerne. Police searched those premises in 2023 and “evidence seized.”
On Sunday, after the news emerged in Switzerland, Sunderland manager Régis Le Bris declined to address it directly, saying it was not his “area to speak about those problems or situations.” Xhaka had played the full 90 minutes in a 5-3 defeat to Manchester City, and had previously been an Arsenal player in 2022.
The prosecutor’s office in Lucerne confirmed to Blick that proceedings have been opened against Xhaka and the doctor involved. “The aim,” they say, “is to clarify whether there has been any criminally relevant conduct in connection with the possible fraudulent procurement of a false certification and/or forgery.” Xhaka is due to be questioned in early October.
The SFV said it “welcomes” Xhaka addressing the matter publicly and taking responsibility, after discussions with the national team legend on Sunday night.
“At the same time, we jointly concluded that it is in the team’s best interest to complete this training camp without him,” SFV president Peter Knäbel said. “Our priority now is to calm the situation and focus entirely on the team and the upcoming challenges in the UEFA Nations League. After the conclusion of this international match window, we will reassess the situation together with Granit and discuss the next steps.”
The broader issue is not vaccination itself. In Switzerland, vaccination was never a legal requirement, though proof of vaccination was needed for access to certain venues or travel. The central question is the alleged procurement of false or forged official documents.
