At 3:00 AM Beijing Time (CEST) on September 1, Arsenal will face Aston Villa away in the second round of the Premier League. After the media embargo ended, the off-the-record section of Arsenal manager Arteta's pre-match press conference was published. This article is the first part of that content.

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Hi Mikel, Martin (Ødegaard) has had a fantastic start to the season, and I feel that last season, as he himself acknowledged, he would say he struggled to consistently maintain those high standards. What changes have you noticed in him over the summer and this season so far? Why do you think he's rediscovered his best form?

He feels physically and competitively ready to play, and I think that's the fundamental foundation. If you feel ready to play, you have the opportunity to perform. Last season, he suffered too many injuries and unexpected setbacks, which prevented him from achieving and maintaining consistency in matches. For a player like Martin, this consistency and the relationships he builds with those around him are crucial. So I'm very, very pleased with his performances over the last few weeks, and we know he can sustain and continue to elevate this level.

And regarding connections on the pitch, we've seen him link up with Bukayo (Saka) and Ben (White), and in the 2023/24 season, that "triangle" combination on the right flank was very impressive. Do you feel you can rely more on this partnership now? How important is it for these three players to stay healthy and play together?

I think it's about the entire team, and I believe the more relationships we build on the pitch, the more unpredictable we become, and the stronger these connections, the better. Because when one area of the pitch is blocked by the opposition, other areas open up. We must be able to identify what the opponent is trying to do and then attack other weak points they've left exposed while defending certain areas.

In recent seasons, Richard Garlick (Arsenal Board Chairman) frequently uses the term "financial self-sufficiency" when discussing the club's financial situation. Clearly, this involves both cash outflows and inflows, and one particularly striking area is player sales. Of course, our current record transfer fee is from the sale of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and if Martinelli leaves in the coming days, that could clearly change. Have you been informed, or does the club have a general direction regarding the need to increase player sales for cash in this transfer window that's about to close, in terms of player sales and the need to achieve this financial self-sufficiency?

Well, I think those decisions and calls are Richard's responsibility, so that question might be better suited for him. As a club, that's what we're trying to achieve. But yes, the balance has to be right, and to reach those financial figures, we need to improve in some areas. If we can't achieve it through player sales—because perhaps we don't want to—we also have to sell players we want to sell, not just sell for the sake of selling, and we want good prices.

We have to be very careful because some of these assets, once they leave, they might flourish, and actually we'd still want to keep them, you know? So perhaps we can also achieve growth in other areas across the club. In terms of commercial development, we're performing exceptionally. Our fan base is incredible, and our matchday revenues are also excellent. So there are other avenues for growth, and that's the club's strategy. Clearly, though, we want to make progress in all these areas because that will give us more room to strengthen our financial position.

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