Arteta identifies Arsenal leak culprit he vowed to ‘destroy’

Will Ford
Mikel-Arteta-Arsenal-1

Mikel Arteta says he has a “solid idea” who was leaking information from inside the Arsenal dressing room.

Under pressure after a string of poor results last month, the Gunners boss was angry about private information being leaked to the mdeia.

Football.London claimed Arteta told his squad he would ‘destroy’ the source of the leaks.


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After news of a training ground bust up between Dani Ceballos and David Luiz came to light, Arteta said in November: “I don’t like the fact that that incident comes out at all,” he said. “I will find out where it is coming from.

“That goes completely against what I expect from each other, the privacy and the confidentiality that we need, and there will be consequences.”

And now, detective Arteta believes he knows who is responsible.

Asked if he had discovered who the culprit was, Arteta gave a wry smile and said: “I have a solid idea, yes.”

Asked if that was related to players who left the club this month, he added: “No comment on that.”

Speaking before their recent turnaround, Arteta insisted he had not lost the dressing room.

“I’ve said it many times, when you have the squad that we have at the moment for many circumstances, it’s impossible to have 31 happy players in the camp,” said Arteta in December.

“It’s impossible and I don’t know any club in the world that has that, but obviously when you lose again, these things are going to come out to try to put more pressure on and be disruptive. I’m not interested in any of that.

“I wouldn’t say you have to be a friend, but you need a level of chemistry and understanding and a relationship because in the end what you have to build has to be expressed by those players and they have to believe in what you’re trying to transmit to them.

“They have to trust you as a man and your work needs to have a meaning when you speak to them.”