Arteta urges fans to ‘show gratitude’ for out of contract Arsenal players | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta hopes the Arsenal fans will show their “gratitude” for the club’s out of contract players when they take on Newcastle on Sunday.

Jorginho, Thomas Partey and Kieran Tierney will all see their current deals run out this summer.

Tierney is set to join former club Celtic when his contract expires, while Jorginho is also expected to leave. Partey, meanwhile, has yet to agree a new deal with the club.

And Arteta wants to show appreciation for those who could depart: “I wouldn’t like to talk specifically about anybody.

“As you said, there are a few cases, and we’ll all try to show our gratitude, how much we love them, how much we appreciate the time that we’ve been together and hopefully, our supporters can do the same with them.”

This summer will be the first transfer window under new sporting director Andrea Berta, following previous incumbent Edu’s departure.

A busy summer is expected for the club, with a new forward high on the list of priorities.

“I think sometimes from the plan that we had and actually what we were able to execute, we’ve never been able to replicate it exactly,” Arteta said. “This is football, it happens, I think, to every football club.

“That’s why we plan certain ways and, okay, we cannot do it, we’ll do something else. I think the aim is clear and then you have to just do it slowly, thing by thing and start to achieve it.

“A big part of that as well is keeping and making sure that the players that are here are happy, they feel valued, and they are willing to continue with us. That’s very, very important.”

On new colleague Berta, Arteta said: “A big [personality], but someone very driven, very clear in his ideas, in the vision and how we want to achieve it.

“As well, very supportive of everything that’s been done here with a lot of people that have contributed massively to the position that we are today as a club, the squad that we have, the players and the staff that we have.

“[He is] ready to add value and make us better. That’s the reason why we’ve chosen to be here with us.

Confident in their ability to work together, Arteta continued: “I will ask that many questions and we will do so much work that it will be so evident that this is what we don’t have to do. It’s not going to fit, I guarantee it’s not going to fit. Because as well, we have learned a lot.”

“Some [previous transfers] have worked really well and others not. And that’s from the ones as well that we have to learn so well to make sure that we make the right calls. We are all human beings and fortunately, nobody has got a crystal ball here.”