Arteta told Guardiola will 'never sell player to Arsenal again'

Stuart Telford

• 2 Mar 2023 08:42 GMT
• 3 min read

Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko have helped Arsenal to the top of the Premier League since leaving the champions for North London last summer.

Jesus and Zinchenko swapped the Etihad for the Emirates for a combined £77 million last July and have hit the ground running with the Gunners, injury permitting.

Jesus had five goals and six assists - one every 111 minutes - before a knee injury sustained with Brazil at the winter World Cup, while Zinchenko's performances at left-back have effectively put incumbent Kieran Tierney on the market.

READ: Arteta refuses to rule out summer sale of €40m Arsenal fan favourite

The former Man City pair have also helped Arsenal set up differently from a tactical point of view, something Jamia Carragher addressed, whilst mentioning that Pep Guardiola made a mistake.

"Pep Guardiola's system this season is a flip of what he's done before," the former Liverpool captain told The Overlap in Focus. "It was always the full back going into midfield, now it's the midfielder going to full back. Bernardo Silva is starting in midfield then trying to get to full back.

'City will never sell to Arsenal again'

"Pep and Manchester City will never sell a player to Arsenal ever again. The reason why Oleksandr Zinchenko was sold to Arsenal is because of Pep's mate - and he didn’t feel Arsenal were a threat."

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Arsenal have not won a Premier League title since their 'Invincibles' season under Arsene Wenger back in 2004, while City have1 crowned champions in four of the last five years.

The Gunners are five point clear of City at the top this term, though, with April's trip to the Etihad a title six-pointer.

There is hope Jesus could be back for that, too, with the Brazilian forward having foregone surgery for now and targeting a return before next month's international break.