Arteta Addresses Mosquera Concerns Ahead of Deadline Day
Mikel Arteta moved quickly to ease concern over Cristhian Mosquera after the defender hobbled off in Arsenal’s win over Aston Villa – and then turned his attention straight to a frantic final day of the transfer window.
Mosquera had been central to Arsenal’s control of the game, threading a sharp pass through the lines in the build-up to the key goal, releasing Eberechi Eze and Riccardo Calafiori into space. His night ended early, though, as he clutched the back of his leg and signalled to come off with around 10 minutes of normal time left.
That opened the door for Ezri Konsa to make his Arsenal debut against the club where he made his name. The script was rich, but the worry in the away end centred on Mosquera’s fitness rather than the narrative.
Arteta, though, cut off the anxiety at source.
“He is fine,” he said. “But he was feeling like he was about to have something. That’s why we have the bench that we have, that’s why we had to bring Ezri on.”
No scan results, no long medical bulletins – just a manager convinced his defender had come off in time.
Arteta eyes late attacking reinforcement
The relief over Mosquera does not change Arsenal’s stance on the market. Arteta made it clear he still wants more firepower, with Lyon winger Malick Fofana among the options under consideration as the clock ticks towards Deadline Day.
“We are trying to improve the squad, and until tomorrow night we’re going to try to do that,” Arteta said.
He admitted he had stepped away from the noise around deals in the build-up to the Villa game.
“I’ve been disconnected from the world for 24 hours, because I think my energy and focus has to be on the match, and I will get back on it now.”
The question, as ever with Arsenal, is whether they already have enough in the final third. Arteta’s answer depended on one thing: availability.
“It depends if everybody’s fit or not,” he replied. “We can talk about today, but that scenario might change.”
The manager pointed to recent defensive issues as a warning. Losing Willy Saliba had already stretched his back line; another problem there, he said, would have left them “in big trouble” and forced the club to act. Mosquera’s inability to finish the game only underlined the point.
“So we know that the depth has to be really big when you’re fighting for four competitions, in the manner that we play as well,” Arteta said. “So we’re going to try to do that.”
Mosquera is fine, the manager insists. The squad, though? Arsenal have one more day to make sure it is strong enough for the fight they insist they are ready to take on.
