#PLStories- Mikel Arteta on Martin Odegaard’s injury, Kai Havertz debut and Balogun’s future #ARSENALFC
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Mikel Arteta Arsenal
How was that as a run out?
Yeah it was a lot of things that we wanted to see, especially physically. For a few players it was challenging, they only had three sessions. But they had some exposure. I think a lot of good things in the first half where we controlled the game really well. We had three big chances to put the game to bed and we didn’t. Then you could see the moment we made a lot of changes a lot of things weren’t flowing in the right direction. But that’s normal. Very happy to see some of the young players have some exposure here.
Was Odegaard OK?
No. He felt something in the warm up.
His hamstring?
No I think it was his calf. He got a knock there and he wasn’t feeling good enough to play. And Leo as well had an issue.
Not a major issue?
Hopefully not.
You’ve had a busy summer so far. Are you happy with everything?
Yeah we’ve been pretty busy. A lot of renewals as well and bringing Kai. Let’s see how we can improve the squad.
Will you have more players when you take off for America?
I don’t know. We are working on them and when we have something to announce we will.
It’s been a pretty positive summer overall though…
I think so. There’s still a lot of things to do. Things develop all the time in the last few things as well. We need to be really on it and alert. But we are really pleased so far.
What do you see Havertz bringing to the team?
The talent, the quality, the physicality and the goal threat that he has shown over the past few years. I think it’s true that we have to see how we adapt him the best. He needs to build some relationships on that pitch, but so far he’s adapting really well and we’re really happy to have him.
Is he a direct replacement for Granit?
He’s not a replacement. He’s not gonna be a like-for-like because everybody’s going to be very different to what Granit gave us. It will be very different but Kai has tremendous qualities for our way of playing.
Would you like to see Flo Balogun continue his development at Arsenal next season?
Well this is what he has been doing and that’s why we gave him the minutes that he deserves to show what he can do.
Would you like to see him in the squad for the coming season?
Yeah. He’s just staying here with us at the moment and we will see what happens.
On the bench it seemed Carlos Cuesta was sat closer to you. What can you say about his growing influence?
We have a lot of staff and everybody was on the bench today.
Kai has a similar pathway as a youngster to Martin. How do you feel working with Odegaard will help you with Havertz?
Hopefully it will. Every player is keen to help him and he’s settled well. He’s a really good character. Really humble. He wants to play for us and win with us and we are delighted to have him.
Last year you hit the ground running early in preseason. How important is it to do the same this summer?
Yeah great. We want to win every game and we need as well the squad because we’re going to have some tough opposition to play now. First of all we have to prioritise certain things which is to have everybody healthy in the right physical condition. We have to master the way we want to play which we are in our way. But there are long games still for us because we cannot maintain the quality on the pitch.
What is it about Adidas HQ that you like so much?
It’s a huge benefit. It’s one of our main sponsors and they have great facilities that they’ve had here over the years. It’s a really good environment for us to work. Very quiet, very private and we’ll continue to be here.
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