Former Manchester City connections give Arsenal belief for title showdown
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes the trophy-winning experience of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksander Zinchenko can give them a vital edge in their Premier League title showdown with their former club Manchester City on Wednesday night.
The north Londoners were quick to pounce when City made Jesus and Zinchenko available last summer and the combined £75m investment has paid dividends immediately, helping Arsenal to set a furious pace in the top flight.
Champions City have reeled them in over recent weeks and can move to within two points, with two games in hand, when the teams clash at the Etihad Stadium, but Arteta believes the signings have made his squad better equipped to handle big occasions.
“I think experience is key when you’ve been in those moments,” said the Arsenal boss. “To handle those moments and to understand the importance of certain things when you are competing in a football match; the capacity to transmit as those two players have done for the rest of the team a lot of things that are very, very important.
“Since they came in after two or three weeks, because of where they’ve been, they said ‘we can win this league’. I didn’t know that but they said that to me a few months ago. It’s been going on since August, it’s not something that now you rely on. This process has been coming for a long time.”
City manager Pep Guardiola insisted he had no regrets about selling Jesus and Zinchenko to Arsenal, despite the failure to replace the latter denting their form in the first half of the season.
“The players are agreed, the club want to sell, the club want to buy. They agreed and the club took a decision,” he said. “Is it a risk?They are happy, we are happy. We don’t have any complaints about Gabriel and Oleks, who they are and what they have done for this club in the last years.”
Both managers brushed off suggestions that the game amounted to a title decider, despite the six-point swing on offer.
“It is really important but not decisive because there are still many tough games for both sides,” Guardiola added. “We have more tough games to play but we cannot deny how important it is.”
Arteta, who spent two years at City as Guardiola’s No2 before returning to Arsenal, said: “If we win tomorrow night we haven’t won, for sure.
“It would shift the percentage a little bit but five games in this league with the games we still have to play, it’s very tricky.
“We know it is going to be a massive game. Is it going to define the season? The answer is no.”