Arteta’s team was weakened once again after Gabriel was ruled out for the rest of the season, which means he will likely relyon Jakub Kiwior starting while Thomas Partey takes on right-back duties again. The Spanish head coach first spoke on Gabriel’s injury and how he will deal with such a huge loss.
“It was a tough one to digest because we just got Bukayo back and then we lost Gabi. So it was tough, but the team reacted like it has reacted all season. I’m really proud of that and we know that he's going to be out for a while, so we need to find different solutions and keep competing the way we have been all season.
“We have to because we've come so far and now we have the most important, beautiful part of the season. We have to react to those things, and that means that other players are going to have opportunities to play and the team has to find other ways. It is a big miss undoubtedly, but we have the resources to cope with that.”
Saka’s return is a silver lining for Arteta who is delighted with his return and his goal at the backpost against Fulham in midweek.
“It's like always, after coming through a difficult situation, a really nice one can appear. I think all the hard work and all the difficult moments he had in the last four months, they were paid off just by receiving that love, that support and that admiration from all our people.”
Arteta also commented on Kevin De Bruyne leaving Manchester City at the end of the season and if he would have liked to play with him during his career.
(He’s) Up there. I don't know if he's the one, the two or the three, but for me he's one of the best players in the history of the Premier League, without a question about that. I've never seen, I've never played with a player that can execute that precisely at high speed. He can be running at 33, 34 kilometres an hour and play the ball 30 metres through two people to the perfect spot. I haven't seen anybody else do that at that pace.
“Yes, I would have loved that. I was lucky that I was part of a team that he was very much involved in. What I think makes him special, apart from obviously that technical ability, is how strong he is here because Kevin, he always wants to take the risk, he's willing to make things happen and when the things don't go for him, he still continues to try that way and I think that separates him from the rest.”
Finally, he spoke on visiting Goodison one last time in what will be an emotional goodbye for him after working with the Toffees for several years throughout his career.
“It will be very special. There’s a lot of history as well between the clubs and I have my own personal story which was a beautiful one, with the manager that has just come back now and he's doing extremely well. I'm so happy for the club, and for David because it's never easy to come back there for the second time. In my opinion he was the person who lifted that club to a different level and now he's on the journey to do it again once they move to a new stadium, so I think it's a really nice story.”