Arteta Reveals His Biggest Transfer Regret Despite Praise As ‘Special One’

Despite a last-minute attempt on deadline day by Arsenal to capture Douglas Luiz from Aston Villa, the deal fell through, leaving Mikel Arteta fuming.

Few Arsenal supporters would have objected to their team leading the Premier League standings after five straight victories and another summer of investment.

The Gunners have had a flawless start to the season thanks to Mikel Arteta’s new signings, and things are looking up for them in north London right now.

Yet they are now heading into their toughest test so far against Erik ten Hag’s re-energised Manchester United side who are on their own three-game winning streak. It comes as Arteta is also juggling several injury issues and having missed out on a deadline day signing to put the cherry on the cake.

Arteta’s regret

Mikel Arteta has conceded that Arsenal were beaten by the clock as he opened up on the club’s failed attempts to strike a deal with Aston Villa for Douglas Luiz on deadline day.

After spending a lot of money on players like Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Fabio Vieira, the Gunners appeared to have completed their transfer business well before the transfer deadline, but subsequent injuries to Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny have left Arsenal lacking in the midfield.

Because Luiz has less than a year left on his contract and will be a free agency in the summer, Arsenal sought to persuade Aston Villa to make a trade for him.

The former Manchester City midfielder, who scored against the Gunners in Aston Villa’s 2-1 loss at the Emirates the previous day, was not, however, able to be acquired by the Londoners.

Oleksandr Zinchenko, a recent addition to Arsenal, praised colleague Gabriel Martinelli for his strong start to the season.

Under Mikel Arteta, Martinelli had to compete for a starting position, and the manager acknowledged in March 2021 that it was the Brazilian’s fault that he hadn’t accrued more playing time. The 21-year-old, though, has played a significant role this season, scoring in each of the team’s first two games before netting the game-winning goal against Aston Villa in the middle of the week.

With their weekend matchup against Manchester United, who are also coming off of their third consecutive victory, Arsenal now has a perfect record. And Zinchenko, who was injured and missed the previous two games, praised his teammate profusely.