Arteta 'very surprised' by Gabriel Jesus claim he was exiled from Arsenal training

Mikel Arteta has described himself as “very surprised” by Gabriel Jesus’s claim that he was isolated from Arsenal’s first-team training group ahead of his departure to Barcelona, insisting the two men spoke privately in the dressing room before the forward left north London.

Jesus joined Barcelona on 1 September after four years at Arsenal, but told SportyTV this week that “out of nowhere they put me to train apart from the group” and that “nobody told me nothing”. Arteta directly contradicted that account at his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s Premier League fixture against Sunderland.

“Especially because with Gabi I had an individual talk in the dressing room,” Arteta said. “I don’t know what words were said, it’s fine. The words that we used were all about gratitude.”

The Arsenal manager also addressed criticism from club legend Ian Wright, who said he felt “uncomfortable” with what he perceived as a lack of communication surrounding Gabriel Martinelli’s move to Al Hilal on 3 September. Arteta pointed to Leandro Trossard — sold to Besiktas in July — attending last Sunday’s win over Chelsea as evidence that the club maintains strong relationships with departing players.

“What is important is normally what happens three months or six months later,” Arteta said. “When Trossard comes, he’s in the dressing room with all of us, the atmosphere and the relationship you have. Thank God so far that with all the players that left, at some point the relationship has been really good. I hope this is the same case.”

Arteta also reflected on Arsenal’s 1-0 Champions League victory over Napoli on Wednesday, which came after UK air traffic control issues delayed the squad’s flight to Naples by several hours. Rather than treating the disruption as a setback, the Spaniard said he had deliberately engineered similar scenarios during pre-season to prepare his players.

“I love those challenges. I tried to create them in pre-season, so when they happen we have already experienced them,” he said. “Get to the stadium very late, change the routine so the players have to do something else. When that happens, adapt to it — don’t complain or use it as an excuse because it’s not helpful at all.”

On the injury front, Ben White is available for selection against Sunderland.