Arteta slams penalty calls in loss to Inter Milan, says “I don’t understand the decision”
Hakan Calhanoglu’s penalty and an organised defensive display gave Inter a hard-fought victory over Arsenal, their first Champions League defeat of the season.
Revealing that Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka was one of his choices in the transfer list of players in Manchester City, Gunners newly-appointed coach Mikel Arteta has declared his admiration for the Swedish star. And with less than a week left for the transfer window to re-open, Arteta has certainly hinted that Xhaka is going to remain at Arsenal in future.
Arteta, who was the assistant coach of City for 3 years under Pep Guardiola, took reigns from Freddie Ljungberg, who was the acting boss after Unai Emery was sacked.
“As a player, when I was going from Arsenal to City to start coaching and we were looking in that position, he was one of the players on my list. This is how much I liked him,” Arteta said about Xhaka as quoted by Goal.
Advertisement
Xhaka signed for Arsenal in 2016 but his recent angry reaction to fan abuse has put his future at the club under doubt.
“I was happy when Arsenal signed him because I thought he was going to be a terrific player. He has done some really good things and now he has got stuck in a very difficult situation that, I think, was growing and growing and growing and one day it exploded,” Arteta said.
Arsenal were drubbed by Manchester City with a 3-0 scoreline in Saturday’s (IST) Premier League clash. They face Bournemouth next on Thursday.
It will be a big test for Arteta to lead the Gunners, who are placed at the 11th spot in the Premier League points table with 23 points from 18 matches.
Advertisement
