Arteta drops hint over futures of Luiz, Ozil after Arsenal humbling

Mikel Arteta TEAMtalk

Mikel Arteta dropped hints over the futures of David Luiz and Mesut Ozil after Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat at Man City on Wednesday night.

Arsenal’s unbeaten 2020 in the Premier League came to an immediate end upon their return from the three-month break. Raheem Sterling gave City the lead before the break, before David Luiz was sent off for giving away a penalty.

That spot kick was converted by Kevin De Bruyne, before Phil Foden added a third goal in stoppage time.

It was a miserable evening for Arsenal, who failed to register a shot on target.

Midfielder Granit Xhaka also left on a stretcher after an early injury, while Pablo Mari pulled up midway through the first half as he also saw his return to action halted.

“They are getting assessed at the moment and we will know something more probably tomorrow morning,” Arteta said.

“Pablo’s one did not look really good, to be fair.”

It was a disastrous first return to the Etihad Stadium for Arteta, who left his role as Guardiola’s assistant in December to take the Arsenal hotseat.

Luiz’s rustiness was key to the loss and the defender is out of contract at the end of June.

“I don’t know what will happen with his contract,” Arteta said.

“I know what happened today. I know the way David reacted because I know him well, not only as a player but a person as well.

 

 

“There was a reason why I didn’t select him from the start and he had to play because Pablo got injured.

“He’s always going to try and give you his best.”

Arteta kept things short in his virtual post-match press conference and gave little away when asked about the absence of Mesut Ozil from the squad.

“It was a tactical reason,” he said, before adding upon being pushed: “Because I need players in other positions as well, so that’s why I decided to leave him out.”