Time running out for Arteta to save his job
➤ Arsenal expect improvement by October international break ➤ Conte is the first choice to replace struggling Spaniard
Mikel Arteta is under pressure to turn around Arsenal’s dismal start to the season by the second international break in October, or face a fight to save his job.
Arsenal have lost both of their opening Premier League games without scoring a goal, despite the club spending around £125million on new signings this summer.
Arteta was confronted by a group of angry supporters, who called for the head coach to leave, as he left the Emirates in his car on Sunday night, having seen his team booed off at half-time and full time in the 2-0 defeat to Chelsea. The Spaniard thanked the Arsenal fans for their support after the game, but some are losing patience with the absence of any consistent proof of improvement since Arteta succeeded Unai Emery in December 2019.
Arteta claimed he was without nine players after Sunday’s defeat, with new £50million signing Ben White ruled out with Covid-19, and there is an acknowledgement within the club that he has been working under difficult circumstances. He also promised that results and performances would improve once players started to return and his new signings found their feet. But things could get worse before they get better, with a trip to champions Manchester City looming on Saturday.
But, after the City game and the first international break next month, Arsenal have games against newlypromoted Norwich City, Burnley, Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton, before the Premier League breaks again in October. A failure to demonstrate a significant improvement in those games would leave Arteta fighting to save his job, particularly as Arsenal could spend more money before the transfer window closes.
It is understood that they would like to sign a new right-back, which could be dependent on whether Hector Bellerin leaves, and that they have registered an interest in former Spurs player Kieran Trippier.
Trippier, now at Atletico Madrid, is believed to favour a move to Manchester United, who remain frontrunners for his signature, but that has not put Arsenal off.
Should Arteta ultimately fail to turn Arsenal’s fortunes around, then the club are likely to make former Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte their first choice to replace him.
Conte is out of work after leaving Inter Milan during the summer and rejecting an approach from Tottenham to succeed Jose Mourinho.
Arsenal will not stand in Pierreemerick Aubameyang’s way if another club want to buy their captain this summer.
Aubameyang (inset) remains a key part of Mikel Arteta’s plans but The Daily Telegraph understands he is no longer considered indispensable as Arsenal look to raise money through sales in the final week of the transfer window.
The 32-year-old has two years remaining on the contract he signed in September 2020. He earns around £250,000 a week, though, and his salary demands are likely to prove problematic for any interested teams in Europe.
Aubameyang missed Arsenal’s opening-day loss at Brentford after testing positive for coronavirus and was not fit enough to start Sunday’s defeat by Chelsea at the Emirates.
The Gabon international’s form has dipped in the past year, leading to a goal return of 15 in all competitions last season, compared to 29 and 31 in his previous two full campaigns.
The striker position is one of the most pressing areas for Arsenal to address, with Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah both in the final year of their contracts.
Lacazette and Nketiah could also leave during this transfer window, with Nketiah, 22, more likely to depart due to his age, lower wage demands and greater potential for development.
Brighton and Crystal Palace have shown interest in Nketiah, who is the record scorer for England’s Under-21s. The player is working his way back to full fitness after suffering an ankle injury in pre-season.
Arsenal are hoping for a busy final few days in the transfer market as they look to offload a series of players who are not considered fundamental to Arteta’s rebuilding plans in north London.
They have signed five players this summer, all of whom are aged 23 or under, but will almost certainly need to sell some of the existing squad if they are to bring in any more recruits. Ben White, Martin Odegaard, Aaron Ramsdale, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Tavares have arrived for a combined cost of around £125million, and Arsenal have agreed new contracts for Kieran Tierney and Emile Smith Rowe.
The club have shown interest in England right-back Kieran Trippier, a La Liga winner with Atletico Madrid last season, but any deal is likely to depend on the future of Hector Bellerin, who is looking for a new challenge after 10 seasons at the club.
Midfielder Willian is expected to return home to join Corinthians on a free transfer. The 33-year-old, who joined from Chelsea last year, made 37 appearances for Arsenal last season, scoring once, but he fell out of favour after making a bright start at the club.
Sead Kolasinac, Lucas Torreira and Ainsley Maitland-niles could also depart if acceptable offers are received.
Arsenal had hoped to sell their unwanted players earlier in the transfer window but, as with other clubs, the slow-moving market has made the process more complicated than expected. So far their only permanent departure has been academy graduate Joe Willock, who joined Newcastle United for around £22million, while Matteo Guendouzi and William Saliba have been loaned to Marseille.
Granit Xhaka, the captain in Aubameyang’s absence against Brentford and Chelsea, said the team would be motivated by the criticism they have received following their poor start to the season.
“A lot of people try to speak and to kill a little bit the players and the team, but the strongest thing to do at the moment is to be together, and only together will we be stronger and give the results on the pitch,” Xhaka said. “We want to achieve something big, of course. After two games, a lot of people are speaking about this team and about this club, but no season finishes after two or three games.”