Mikel Arteta reflected on the options he has available in the number nine role for Arsenal.
The return to fitness of big summer signings from 2022 and 2023, along with the £63 million Swede from Sporting, have allowed Mikel Merino to make way from the position. Although none of the trio
“With the amount of games that are coming up, they’re all going to have opportunities and minutes, obviously, so it’s great to have them back and especially to have them in good form.
*“[**Viktor Gyokeres*] started without a pre-season and a lot of minutes and a lot of responsibility on him. Now the fact that we have other options as well, I think it’s something really positive, especially for the squad, and you could see the other day, Gabriel Jesus scoring two goals, Viktor coming on and making an impact to win the game.
“Kai is a player that can play in two attacking midfield positions, so we can vary in relation to the opponent, their behaviour and the game that we want to play, so that's very good.
“He is very close. Obviously, he has been out for a long time, almost a year, for different reasons, and now we have to be very smart in the manner that we manage that load, the minutes, and I am sure that in the next few weeks, he is going to play in minutes.
“I cannot tell you which competition because that will depend as well on the game context, and it is a context that is positive to throw him in or not, with his qualities. It is great that we have him. We can use him in different positions, we will see him in different positions, and we are happy to have him.
“After a long-term injury it is not only the period that you come in, it is what happens in the next six to eight weeks, and we want to maintain that and manage that really well so that we can creep it up, as you said, when all the big, big games are coming up and we have to make sure that everybody is in the right mind and physically at the highest level.”