With the transfer window due to open in 10 days time, Mikel Arteta was asked about the futures of a host of our players.
This is what our head coach told the media during his Zoom press conference on Friday afternoon:
on whether Dani Ceballos wants to stay…
Well, that’s a conversation that we’re having with the club to see what we can do in the future with him. But I’m really, really happy with his progress and how much he’s improving and giving to the club. I always say as an example, he’s a loan player but when you see how he celebrates for every goal and the way he trains every day and how much he cares, I’m really happy with him.
on how positive he feels regarding Auba's future...
I've always been very positive about it. I don't have the key to the future and in football, anything is possible. But I see his reactions, I see how he is training every day. I know that he's happy. I talk to him a lot and if we are able to do it, I think we can do it and we know how important he is for the team.
on Alex Lacazette...
Yes, I really like Alex, I said that even before I joined here that he is the type of striker that I really like. I think he had periods where he was very unlucky, because he was having the chances and not converting them which he is not used to. But the way he can link play, he's a massive competitor he hates to lose. He goes for every ball, you see in every challenge how he's ready to go. He works really hard and he's a very intelligent player, I am really happy with him.
on not wanting to lose him...
Why would I want to lose a player like him? I'm really happy with him.
on whether Maitland-Niles wants to leave...
I don't disclose those reports, first of all because I don't read them so I don't know about them. I speak to the players about how they are feeling and how we can help them. If they are having difficulties again I speak to them and make them easier for them. He's a player who can play in many different positions, we have discussed the things in my opinion that he can improve or adapt to his game because he has incredible quality. He has every quality that you need to be a football player to play the highest level and he just needs to do it in a little bit more of a consistent way, but he is someone who can adapt to any position as well.
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