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Mikel Arteta has been speaking ahead of Manchester United’s clash with Arsenal on Sunday
Arsenal are the visitors to Old Trafford this weekend where the Gunners could be reunited with former academy player Chido Obi. The 17-year-old left North London for Manchester last year as he rejected a new contract at the Gunners to sign for United.
He has been called into the senior squad in the last few weeks by Red Devils boss Ruben Amorim, amid a combination of injury woes and lack of goals for United. He was not involved in the Europa League in midweek as he was not registered in time for the competition.
In January, Obi was joined by Ayden Heaven at United as the Red Devils plucked another upcoming star from Arsenal’s academy. Obi’s reasons for leaving Arsenal for Old Trafford were down to a belief he could get more playing time in the senior side at United.
Arteta tells Obi pathway is there at Arsenal
Ahead of Sunday’s clash between the old rivals, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was asked about Obi’s move to United. The Gunners boss admitted he did not have much involvement with the decision for the player to leave.
However, the Spaniard did refute the suggestion that there was no pathway into the senior side for younger players as he pointed to the respective rises of Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri this season - with both players set to be in the squad when the Gunners make the trip to Old Trafford.
On Obi leaving, he said: “I wasn’t too involved in that decision, when a player decides the best outcome for him is to leave, there’s not a lot you can do. It’s very unfortunate because we want to keep our players from the academy and for them to be very successful with the first team, but in that case and with Ayden [Heaven], we weren’t able to do that.”
When asked about the perception there was no pathway for academy players, Arteta sent a clear message that was not true. He said: “I don’t know what the perception is outside, but internally no. The reality is very different because there are those players [Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri] are with us. I guarantee you that if there is a player that can help and impact the first team, they will be with us.”
Arteta wary of United’s threat
Arsenal are the favourites heading into Sunday’s game with United. The Red Devils have won just six of their 14 games at Old Trafford this season, drawing once while losing seven times.
However, while the Gunners have the second best away record in the division, they have dropped points in seven of their 14 fixtures on the road. Discussing the fixture, Arteta was asked about United’s ability to pick up wins when not expected to. He responded: “There’s a history of that at the football club - the players they have, the club that they have. Watching the game last night against Real Sociedad, it became very clear that they’re very capable of putting a really strong performance in and beat you on the day. We know the difficulty of the match and that’s what we’re preparing for.”
In other news, Wayne Rooney has named new problem Manchester United have for Arsenal fixture on Sunday.