Here is every word from Mikel Arteta’s pre-match press conference ahead of Arsenal’s FA Cup clash with Wigan Athletic.
12:00, 13 Feb 2026
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta attends a press conference before clash with Wigan Athletic
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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta attends a press conference before clash with Wigan Athletic(Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Mikel Arteta faced the media ahead of his Arsenal side’s FA Cup fourth round clash with Wigan Athletic, looking to secure a spot in the next phase of the competition against another lower league opponent. The Gunners come off the back of a frustrating draw in the Premier League with Brentford, as the gap at the top closes to just four points.
With a trip to Wolves in the league on Wednesday, there is an expectation over rotation, with plenty of fringe players expected to be given an opportunity. Arteta was also asked about the status of Ethan Nwaneri, who would have likely featured, but was sent on loan to Marseille, who have just sacked manager Roberto De Zerbi.
There were further reflections on the fallout from Brentford, including taking a break from the title race and making changes.
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Here is every word Mikel Arteta said in his pre-match press conference:
With Wigan on Sunday and touching on Eberechi Eze again, could that be a good opportunity for him to pick up some form and have more moments to try and force himself back into the Premier League?
It's an opportunity for the team. Again, with another competition and the history that we have related to that competition, it's amazing. We play at home again and I'm really excited to recover and go again.
Cup competitions have given you some great moments, you’re already in one final, so how do you prepare for this to use the squad because obviously it can give you such great moments?
Well, I don't know. Every three days we are getting so used to playing different competitions, home or away, and we know what that competition means to the club, to ourselves, and go step by step.
You haven't been past the fourth round of the FA Cup since winning it six years ago. Has that been sort of a squad depth issue, having to prioritise other things? What do you put that down to?
Or we haven't been good enough on that day. And when you come to a competition, you have to be excellent on the day and the rest, the shirt that you wear or the shorts that you wear is irrelevant. So we're going to have to prove that against Wigan again on Sunday.
Can I ask about a player in another country? Can I ask about Ethan? Now Mikel Merino is injured, Kai Havertz is injured. Do you have now perhaps any regrets now that you let him go?
[Laughs] That's easy to say. After making the decision, who could have predicted that Mikel was going to be out for five months and Kai? It's unfortunate, at the end we have to make the decisions on the moment, understanding the context there, and the best decision for the club, for Ethan, for sure it was for him to go and experience a different environment, have minutes played, and getting ready to come back to us.
One of the reasons you sent him there was to work under Roberto De Zerbi, he's now not there anymore, is that frustration for you?
Well I cannot control that, again it's a decision, and that's part of playing on loan, and that's part of a journey of a football player. So you're going to have to work with different coaches, and that can happen any moment, you cannot control that, you cannot avoid that. Yes, one of the reasons for sure it was Roberto, but as well it was Marseille, and what Marseille as a club and as an environment brings to Ethan, and I think that's going to be still very positive.
All this general talk about the title race, can the change of competition be good for the group?
We are doing that every week, every three days we are playing different competitions, so we are so used to it. We reflect on the game, take the positives, the learnings for sure that we have to improve, and go on Sunday again with the energy and the batteries fully charged to win the game.
To fully charge those batteries, are you going to have to make changes to freshen up the team?
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Yes, that's what we've been doing, trying to make sure that everybody is a big part of what we are doing in different competitions, and Sunday will be the same.
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