Arsenal: Arteta reveals Berta contract ‘progress’ with ‘club to decide’ future of star midfielder
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta spoke to the press ahead of his side’s trip to Ipswich Town on Sunday afternoon, touching on their Champions League success and a new contract for a key player.
Arsenal stunned the Bernabeu with a 2-1 victory against the odds on Wednesday night, embarrassing Real Madrid, a side with a monopoly on the competition, 5-1 on aggregate.
On the subject of post-match celebrations in Madrid, Arteta said: “For a short period of time, yes (we celebrated). It was a great evening, we had lots of family and a lot of happy faces around. It was a good moment, but immediately you have to switch it off and now it’s Ipswich and the Premier League.”
“We showed that we can compete in any contest against any opposition. Now, the next step is consistency. We do it in the Champions League at that level, now we go to Ipswich, a tough team, and we have to do it again.”
“They are playing at home. It’s one of the few chances they have, but for us it’s a big game.
“We need to start winning games in the Premier League to at least maintain the position we are in and to push into the last few games with some hope.
“We know how tough it is going to be. They are a really well-organised team. I think what Kieran has done is remarkable. You see every week how they perform and the amount of issues they give to the opposition, so I think it’s going to be a really tough game.”
Having just welcomed Bukayo Saka back to the fold recently, injuries are again threatening to mount in North London. Jorginho is the latest player to have hobbled off.
“Jorginho is not going to be available yet, he’s still struggling with that incident. Riccy (Calafiori), as well, probably is not going to be available,” Arteta said.
“That’s probably a question for the doctors, it’s quite a specific and difficult matter. I will leave that to the club.”
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Despite his insistence on focusing on the task at hand, Arteta fielded further questions about their Champions League semi-final against PSG and the availability of key players.
The Spaniard could have a selection headache on his hands with Thomas Partey suspended for the first leg and Jorginho’s status questionable.
“We have a few options, obviously, we are not going to give anything away. It depends on the players as well. If they are comfortable doing certain things, and how we can maximise our qualities in relation to the game we expect against them.”
Finally, the Gunners boss was coy on the specifics of contract negotiations, but he did drop a major contract hint that will please Arsenal fans, admitting the club is making progress on a new contract for Partey.
“Yeah, there is progress with all the players. I leave that to Andrea and the club to decide and to talk about.
“The intention is very clear. I leave that to Andrea and the club to take steps forward.”
