Good morning Arsenal fans
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admits the team’s top-four pursuit is losing impetus after the 1-0 loss to Southampton at St Mary’s.
Arteta told Sky Sports: “It is difficult to explain because this is football, not basketball. In any other sport you win the game very comfortably.
“At the end of the day it’s decided in the boxes, they scored one goal, we didn’t for that amount of time we spent around the box, the clear-cut chances we had, we didn’t put them in the goal because they have an exceptional goal [and] have an exceptional goalkeeper today, and because we didn’t have enough quality to break them down.
“It certainly has [lost impetus] and we need to find a way to win football matches. What we can do is play as good as possible to get the team as close as possible to win football matches – today we’ve done that again. The stats will say, ‘How the hell have we lost that game?’ but the reality is we lost it.”
Arteta also praised Granit Xhaka for the way he dealt with his fractured relationship with a section of the fans.
The Spanish tactician said: “I think what he has done is just express his feelings and say, ‘This is how I feel about the situation’.
“He has done it in a way to the outside world that I probably haven’t seen before.
“He has had a lot of support from everybody here internally and I think the fans have also given a lot of support.
“In the last year, the situation has changed a lot. They have been exceptional with the team and they have been very good with him individually as well, and what I have sensed in the atmosphere and support to him is very positive.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal are in pole position in the race to land Napoli star Victor Osimhen in the summer.
Osimhen has been heavily linked with a move away from the Serie A following another productive season.
The Gunners are reportedly battling Manchester United for the centre-forward’s signature, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Edinson Cavani all facing uncertain futures.
According to Gazzetta Dello Sport, however, the North Londoners are leading the race to land the Nigeria international.
Finally, Arsenal are facing competition from Newcastle and five other European clubs in the bidding war for Torino ace Gleison Bremer.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, “everyone wants to sign” Bremer ahead of the summer transfer window.
The Gunners and the Magpies are both keen on securing the centre-back’s signature for next season.
But Juventus, Inter Milan and Napoli are also determined to nab the highly-rated Brazilian