Mikel Arteta has admitted Arsenal must prove to themselves they have the right mindset to win the Premier League title, but revealed there are major doubts over when Bukayo Saka will return from an achilles injury.
The England forward will miss the second leg of Arsenal’s Champions League quarter-final against Sporting and looks set to be sidelined for Sunday’s crucial Premier League showdown with Manchester City. Arteta said Saka has been carrying the injury “for a while” and his return is a matter of “days and not weeks”. Saka signed a lucrative new five-year contract in February.
Despite losing three of their past four matches, Arteta said he has “zero fear” that Arsenal could end the season without silverware again. “I’m on fire,” he said. “I just see beauty, opportunity, and I want to get it done for all these people. There’s no fear. It’s just purpose, fire, direction and conviction that we’re going to do it.”
Arsenal also have doubts over Jurriën Timber, Riccardo Calafiori and Martin Ødegaard for the Sporting game, while Declan Rice missed training on Tuesday. Asked about title mentality, Arteta said: “We have to prove to everybody, to ourselves.”
