BREAKING: What #Arteta Said After #Chelsea outclassed #Arsenal To Sign Mykhailo #Mudryk—Spanish international and Arsenal boss, Mikel Arteta insisted that he was not too worried about missing out on the signature of Chelsea new boy Mykhaylo Mudryk after his side’s comfortable victory over Tottenham in Sunday’s north London derby.
The Gunners managed to pull eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table thanks to a rip-roaring first-half performance, while they continued keep the hosts at arm’s length after the interval to claim all three points on enemy territory for the first time since 2014
Arsenal opened the scoring early on when Bukayo Saka darted into the area past Ryan Sessegnon and delivered a powerful cross down the throat of Hugo Lloris, who could only fumble the ball into his own net after being caught napping. Martin Odegaard doubled Arsenal’s lead before half-time with a fine effort from outside the area, which rolled out of Lloris’ reach and into the bottom corner with pinpoint accuracy.
Sunday’s dominant victory helped Arsenal to ease the pain of missing out on the signing of Mudryk, who was targeted by the north Londoners for a number of weeks before Chelsea swooped in at the eleventh hour to hijack the move for themselves. Arsenal reportedly submitted three concrete bids for the Ukraine international winger, with their final offer said to have been in the region of around £62million, but were ultimately not willing to match Chelsea’s mega-money £88m proposal in order to get a deal done.
Mudryk was thought to have been identified by Arteta as his priority target for the January window, but the Spaniard did not seem too upset when quizzed on his thoughts on the saga after the full-time whistle at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“We can get those players [that we already have] better so let’s focus on that. We had injuries which are not helpful but we go [again] tomorrow, we go day by day. The window is open and we try to improve the team. The club is willing, they have my support and we’ll try and do it together.”
Arteta was also full of praise for his Arsenal stars after they put Tottenham to the sword for the second time this season with a brilliant performance away from home in order to boost their hopes of winning the Premier League title ahead of Manchester City at the end of the campaign.
“I loved the way we played and the courage we showed to come here and play,” added the Arsenal boss. “Doing our job we can make a lot of people happy, and I’m sure we’ve made Arsenal fans very happy.
“Everything we ask, they are so willing to try and do. They are a terrific group of players. I think today we went another step. We won last season in big stadiums, but the way we won today was really pleasing to watch, it shows not only determination and courage but you have to have the belief and quaity to do it against this team.
“That is absolutely down to the players. We were really aggressive, we were really intense against the high press. We won so many balls and duels. They created some openings, they are a dangerous team, but we did a lot of good work today.”
CREDIT: EXPRESS.CO.UK
