Arteta addresses Mason Mount's Arsenal transfer snub ahead of Man Utd showdown
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta faced questions over Manchester United new boy Mason Mount ahead of the two teams meeting in New York on Saturday.
Mount joined the Red Devils earlier this summer from fellow Premier League giants Chelsea for a fee of £55million. The amount of money that United forked out to land the England international's signature really divided opinion, with some suggesting it was a bargain while others questioned why United spent so much considering Mount's struggles last term.
However, despite an underwhelming last season at Stamford Bridge which was actually plagued by injury, United were not the only club interested in prying Mount away from west London. United's rivals Arsenal were also monitoring Mount's situation, as were Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool.
As a result, Arteta was pressed for comment on the situation that saw them miss out on Mount to United before the two come face to face at the MetLife Stadium for the most high-profile fixture of their pre-season campaign.
"We are so happy with the players that we’ve signed and the players that we’ve got in our squad," Arteta said, keeping his cards close to his chest on the matter and refusing to admit if there was any regret at missing out on Mount.
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While United won the race for one former Chelsea ace in Mount, the Gunners did get their hands on another ex-Stamford Bridge regular in Kai Havertz. Arsenal paid £65million to bring the Germany international to the Emirates with a view to tweaking the role he was given with the Blues.
At Arsenal, Havertz is expected to be deployed as an attacking midfielder, rather than as a forward like at Chelsea. The 24-year-old recently got his first Gunners goal during the 5-0 route over the MLS All-Stars in Washington earlier this week.
Mason Mount was the subject of interest from Arsenal before joining Man Utd. (Getty Images)Mirror Football is now on Threads! You can follow us here.
Havertz is not the only new Arsenal addition, with last season's Premier League runners-up breaking the British transfer record to sign Declan Rice for a jaw-dropping £105m fee. Another £38m was spent on ex-Ajax man and former United transfer target Jurrien Timber, who undeniably enjoyed the best debut of all three signings.
Remarkably, despite parting ways with more than £200m, Arsenal's spending may not stop there this summer. Arteta was asked about future incomings and admitted it is a possibility that more signings are made.
"I don’t know. Obviously, there will be movements still. There will be ins and outs," the Arsenal boss explained.
"It’s still very early, the market seems to be a little bit quieter in the last week or so. If we can improve the team we will try to do so, but we don’t get any weaker, so we have to be really cautious of that as well."
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