Mikel Arteta has urged Everton to splash the cash during the summer break or risk losing him, which has put long-term admirers Arsenal on red alert.
The 29-year-old Spaniard, who is seen as a potential replacement for Cesc Fabregas at Arsenal, recently revealed his displeasure with the clubs disappointing season, and insists heavy spending is a necessity if the club wish to keep up with their rivals. The creative midfielder told Sky Sports News recently:
‘I think we need to strengthen the squad a lot to get better. It’s been a really strange season. I don’t think anybody is happy with the way it’s gone.’
‘We have been very inconsistent, having really bad results and then doing really well against the big teams. It’s been a strange season.’
Arteta was then asked if a seventh-placed finish would be a sign of progress for the club, the Spaniard said:
‘For me, it’s not. I think everybody was expecting a much better performance this year from the whole team, and we haven’t reached it.’
‘Even if we finish seventh, I don’t think we should be happy with it.’
Arsene Wenger is known to be a keen admirer of Arteta’s ability. As stated earlier, the midfielder was touted as a possible replacement for Fabregas last summer, but because Wenger managed to persuade his prized asset to stay put, nothing transpired. However, with Cesc’s future in doubt once again, and Arteta appearing to grow restless at Everton, a deal could possibly ensue this summer.
Mikel Arteta has managed to make 32 appearances for Everton this season, bagging 4 assists and 3 goals along the way.
I am a huge fan of the 29-year-old Everton man and view him as an older version of Fabregas. But if Cesc were to depart the Emirates this summer, I truly believe there are better options out there than Arteta for Arsenal to consider, purely for the fact that the Spaniard has become an injury-prone player over the past two seasons and has not been the same since.
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It may sound a bit racist but it`s not meant to be it`s just that Latins are temperamental and their emotions very transparent. They have a tendency to sulk and go from `high` to `low` in a short period of time. When they`re good they`re very good but can become very average for no apparent reason. For this reason I tend to prefer Dutch, Belgian, Polish, German and English (of course). No doubt someone will ask “what about the French”? Well, what about them? As individuals, like the Latins, great but this is a generalization.
I think he is a good player and a couple of years ago I would have loved Arsenal to have brought this player to the Emirates, but I do agree with the writer, there are better and younger options out there. If Wenger were to get him he would get rid of him after a year because of his 30 year old policy. Wenger needs to look for younger options like Hazard, Marin and so forth.