Mikel Arteta Defends Arsenal's Handling of Gabriel Jesus and Martinelli Exits
Mikel Arteta has pushed back hard against claims that Arsenal mishandled the exits of Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli, insisting difficult conversations did take place and relationships were left on good terms.
The Arsenal manager faced questions after Jesus revealed his irritation over the way his £12.5m move to Barcelona unfolded. The Brazilian forward said “nobody told me anything” after being told to train away from the senior squad in the days leading up to his departure.
That frustration poured fuel on a growing debate around Arsenal’s recent outgoings, especially after club legend Ian Wright criticised how Martinelli was frozen out. The winger disappeared from early-season matchday squads before completing a £60m switch to Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal, prompting questions over whether Arsenal’s human touch had gone missing.
Arteta, speaking on Friday, rejected that idea outright.
“Very surprised, to be fair, especially because with Gabi [Jesus] I had an individual talk in the dressing room,” he said. “I don’t know what words were said, it is fine.”
He stressed that his final exchanges with Jesus were anything but cold.
“The words we used for each other, it was all about gratitude,” Arteta explained. “I don’t know, it is OK. Sometimes I understand when you have to deliver bad news or news that people don’t expect, those things [you can] react [to].”
The Spaniard knows how this sounds from the outside: a ruthless manager, big calls, big casualties. He does not shy away from that.
“Somebody has to be the bad cop,” he said. “If I have to be, I have to be and I understand.”
Arteta then reached for a live example to show that the story does not always end with bitterness. Leandro Trossard left for Besiktas in a £15m deal this summer, another high-profile exit from a dressing room he had helped energise. Yet after Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium, the Belgian was back in the home dressing room, laughing and embracing former team-mates.
For Arteta, that reunion mattered.
“What is important is normally what happens three months later, six months later,” he said. “When Trossard comes in, he is in the dressing room with us, the atmosphere and the relationship you have.”
That is the benchmark he hopes to reach again with Jesus and Martinelli. Time, he believes, can sand down the rough edges of a painful goodbye.
“Things got so far with other players that they left, at some point the relationship has been really good,” he said. “I hope that is the same case.”
While the noise around departed forwards rumbles on, Arsenal’s current squad has little room for distraction. A Saturday night trip to Sunderland awaits, and with it the chance to extend a perfect start to the new campaign.
They travel north lifted by a statement Champions League victory away to Napoli on Wednesday, a result that reinforced the sense of a side growing in authority on the European stage as well as at home.
Arteta also moved to calm any immediate injury fears. Ben White, who limped late on in Italy, is “fine” and expected to be available. Cristhian Mosquera, though, will need further assessment as he deals with a muscular problem.
The questions around Jesus and Martinelli will linger. The fixtures will not. For Arteta, the real judgement now comes under the floodlights at Sunderland, not in the retelling of how two Brazilians walked out of the Emirates door.
