Arteta reacts to reports of Arsenal training ground spat
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta played down a reported training ground spat during the international break between two of his players.
Reports suggested David Luiz and Dani Ceballos had been involved in a physical altercation following an argument after an inter-squad training match during the international break.
While it was claimed Luiz had drawn blood from Ceballos during the exchange, Arteta said the incident was not unlike any other training ground disagreement.
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Asked what happened with Luiz and Ceballos, Arsenal boss Arteta replied: “Nothing.
“Training is very competitive and issues happen a lot of times. Those things get resolved immediately within the team and there is not much to say.
“There is no problem at all (between the two players).”
After the story broke on Thursday night, Ceballos took to Twitter to deny the claims – simply retweeting the article below the word: “FAKE”.
— Daniel Ceballos (@DaniCeballos46) November 19, 2020
It is not the first time the Spain international, on a season-long loan from Real Madrid, has been involved in an alteration with a team-mate.
He was caught on camera having a disagreement with Eddie Nketiah as the two substitutes warmed up ahead of Arsenal’s win at Fulham on the opening day of the Premier League season.
Arteta also saw his captain, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have to spend the night sleeping on an airport floor after the Gabon squad had trouble getting into Gambia ahead of an African Nations Cup qualifier.
The extra headaches will not have been welcomed by Arteta, with both Mohamed Elneny and Sead Kolasinac testing positive for Covid-19 during a hectic international break.
Arteta will also be unable to call on deadline day signing Thomas Partey at Elland Road with the Ghana midfielder missing through a thigh injury suffered during the 3-0 home defeat to Aston Villa.
