Arsenal boss on Guendouzi, ‘natural leader’ Xhaka and how winning the 2014 FA Cup galvanised the club

Mikel Arteta has issued a warning to his Arsenal players on Friday: “Jump on the boat, you are more than welcome.”

This comes amid increasing speculation surrounding Matteo Guendouzi’s future at the club – the 20-year-old wasn’t included in their squad for their 2-0 win at Southampton on Thursday.

While Arteta claimed it was for ‘player management’ reasons, the suggestion that it was in response to Guendouzi’s actions in Saturday’s defeat at Brighton will not go away.

The 21-year-old grabbed Seagulls’ match-winner Neal Maupay by the throat at full-time and had reportedly been winding up the opposition throughout the game.

He escaped a Football Association charge after the incident had been seen by the Video Assistant Referee, but was forced to sit at home as his team-mates got Arsenal’s season back on track.

Reports surfaced in France on Friday that Guendouzi had made it known he would not be against leaving the club in the summer during a meeting earlier in the week, with Manchester United reportedly keen on him.

While Arteta refused to deny such a meeting had taken place, he did suggest any player not on board with his plans moving forward would be allowed to depart with his blessing.

“All the players that are here, I am counting on them,” he said. “If they want on the boat, they are more than welcome and that’s always my mindset.

“I am here to help all of them to improve individually and collectively and that is my job.”

It remains to be seen if Guendouzi will return to the fold for Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final away to Sheffield United, a match you can listen to LIVE and exclusively on talkSPORT, kick-off 1pm.

In his pre-match press conference, Arteta also spoke to the media about Granit Xhaka, who acquitted himself well at St Mary’s, their opponents this weekend and how winning the FA Cup in 2014 galvanised the club.

On Xhaka

“He’s a natural leader. He’s someone who is always 1,000 per cent committed, not just for himself but to help all his teammates all the time. I’m happy that you can hear him more now.

“Hopefully I have 24 captains who are willing to take leadership wherever they like. There is not only one way to be a captain, you can be a captain in many different ways. Be yourself, express yourself, play with the passion and set an example to your teammates. That is, for me, a leader.”

On Sheffield United

“They’ve come so far. They’ve set a clear philosophy, the way they want to play and their recruitment. All the players they sign are specifically for them.”

“The clarity of the idea of how they play and how they approach football games. Very clear plans, very clear patterns and roles and a manager that has transmitted exactly how they want to play. They did it last year really well and this season as well, look where they are.”

On winning the FA Cup in 2014

“Yeah, because it was [almost] ten years before they [Arsenal] had won anything under Arsene and we could see it was the year we had an opportunity to win it and we went all for it.

“We had belief and wanted to create something special again and I think that was the platform to build what we did in the next few years.”