Mikel Arteta to face Everton without five Arsenal players after final transfer announcement
Now that the international break is over, Arsenal is gearing up for Premier League action this weekend.
Mikel Arteta faces a challenging situation as he tries to come up with a plan to put an end to his team’s disappointing run of results at Goodison Park in recent years.
Fortunately for the Arsenal manager, his job may have been made somewhat simpler with the recent transfer news.
Nicolas Pepe, one of the senior players, has officially left the club for Turkish side Trabzonspor, which was confirmed last week.
When Arteta spoke about this move for the first time, he expressed his disappointment that things didn’t quite work out for the Ivory Coast international, who was signed by Arsenal for £72 million in the summer of 2019.
“Yes, but obviously there are moments for players,” the Spaniard told reporters. “Not only for him but for Rob leaving and the others who have left on loan.
“You have an emotional attachment with them and you have tried to get the best out of them, but there are periods and sometimes you can love the player but there is a player who plays in this position as well who does so well. There are many factors but we certainly wish them the very best and hopefully they can fulfill their dreams somewhere else.”
Certainly, considering that Nicolas Pepe didn’t participate in any of Arsenal’s pre-season matches and wasn’t included in the squad for the first four games of the Premier League season, it would have been highly unexpected for him to be included in the lineup for the match at Goodison Park, had he still been with the club and available for selection.
With Pepe’s departure, it also means that Mikel Arteta has fewer players to choose from when assembling a 20-man squad for the trip to Merseyside. Additionally, with all 16 players who were away on international duty returning without any injuries, the Gunners have the opportunity to replicate the approach Arteta used against Manchester United.
According to the information available on the club’s official website, Arsenal currently has 25 senior players on their roster. This means that up to five first-team players will have to watch the game from the sidelines, provided there are no new injury concerns before the match at 3.30pm later today (Sunday).
Jurrien Timber is confirmed to be unavailable due to a long-term ACL injury sustained during his Premier League debut last month. Similarly, Thomas Partey is also ruled out as he is still recovering from a muscle problem and is expected to be out for “a few weeks.”
If we assume that Aaron Ramsdale and David Raya are the selected goalkeepers for the Everton game, Karl Hein is likely to be the third senior Arsenal player who won’t make it to the matchday squad. Additionally, Mohamed Elneny is not yet available, making it four players missing from the squad.
Despite being named in Arsenal’s 25-player Premier League and Champions League squads this week, it would be surprising to see Cedric Soares involved in the match at Goodison Park. This is especially true considering the competition for places in defense, with Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Jakub Kiwior all in contention.
Mikel Arteta to face Everton without five Arsenal players after final transfer announcement
