📣 Arteta on Aubameyang injury, January signings and goalkeepers | OneFootball

Arsenal take on Southampton on Tuesday night, aiming to exact some instant revenge after their FA Cup exit at St Mary’s on Saturday.

This is what Gunners boss Mikel Arteta had to say when addressing the media …

On potential lengthy Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang absence

“Of course it will be a problem because he is a top striker, one who scores a lot of goals and he is our captain, a really important player in the team.

“But we have to respect the timings, let’s see. I don’t have enough information to see how things are evolving and hopefully things will go in the right direction.”

On COVID-19 impacting transfer activity

“I don’t have a clue. I think it will depend on how the virus allows our lives to get back to normal.

“When we start to have some crowds in our stadium, the sponsors to be back on track, there are so many things that at the moment I cannot influence and I cannot respond to.

“In the end, football has to be sustainable so in relation to the resources that we have, you can spend your money how you want to.

“There are regulators to make sure that that happens and football has a lot of money because it was producing a lot of money and let’s see where this virus takes the game.”

On Mat Ryan

“He is a player who knows the league really well, he has played so many games, he has international experience, he is at the right age, and was competing regularly until December I think.

“We felt with the departure of Matt Macey, we needed another keeper in the team to give more protection so we looked at the market and we wanted a loan deal and we decided to go with Mat because he had the right profile for us.

“I don’t know if he will join permanently, he’s just arrived. It’s a loan deal and he still has a contract with Brighton and we will assess to see how he performs, see how he adapts, what we need in the future. It’s still too early to decide.”

On impact for Alex Rúnarsson

“That area of the squad needs three goalkeepers and they need to compete with each other, challenge each other and everyone will get their role.

“After you have your role, you just have to support each other again to get the best out of each other. This is the role, come here and try to make it better.”

On confidence in his methods

“Winning games all the time is the best way to reinforce what you are doing. This game is very dangerous, you have to focus on that.

“You have to be completely sure of where you want to go, how you want to do it and then we think about the time and the experiences that we are having with our players.

“We can just manipulate, evolve and change little things to try to get to where we want to quicker. At the moment, I am really optimistic.”

On Gabriel Martinelli

“He is fine, it was a tactical decision [for him to come off in the FA Cup game] and he is fine.

“He has missed a few training sessions with the last injury, but I expect big things from Gabi. He has been really helpful since he joined again after such a long period so I am positive about it.”

On top four chances

“I just look at the next game. Things are moving really quickly at the moment so focus on the next game, win it and we’ll be closer to any objective. That’s for sure.”