Arsenal: Arteta hints at Premier League start for Nketiah
Mikel Arteta has praised two of his young stars following Arsenal’s comfortable Europa League win over Dundalk. The Gunners boss was impressed with the performances of Emile Smith-Rowe and substitute Folarin Balogun.
Mikel Arteta has led the Gunners into the next round of the Europa League (Image: GETTY)
Sean Hoare's header reduced the deficit late on but all eyes were on the performance of Balogun.
The youngster’s future remains in the balance, with his contract up in the summer and no new deal agreed with the club.
Speaking afterwards however, a clearly impressed Arteta suggested the player is ready to commit to the club long-term.
“Well, we’re having some discussions with the player he knows we want to retain him at the club,” he said afterwards. “We know that the length of his contract at the moment is an issue, but we’re trying to resolve it in the best possible way.
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“We want him to stay, he said to me he wants to stay at the club, so hopefully we can reach an agreement and extend his contract.”
Arteta was also pleased with the performance of Emile Smith-Rowe who put in a solid performance and assisted Elneny’s goal despite starting in an unfamiliar wide position.
"He played in a position that doesn't suit him perfectly for his qualities” Arteta admitted. “He has a lot of creativity and has the quality to receive the ball and do things.
“He's a threat and I'm really happy for his performance."
The Gunners’ fine performances in Europe are a stark contrast to their stuttering league campaign.
Arsenal sit 15th in the Premier League table having lost six of their eleven games so far this season.
The club are winless in their last four and most recently suffered a painful 2-0 defeat to arch-rivals Tottenham.
Up next is a game against Burnley at the Emirates which has become a must-win encounter for the under-fire boss.
Balogun was on the scoresheet for the second time in the competition (Image: GETTY)
Arteta is hoping his side can take confidence from their European displays and apply it to the Premier League.
“We need to do that at the end of the day we need to start winning football matches immediately,” he added. “We cannot sustain the results we had in the last six to eight weeks and that has to be immediately and we know that has to start on Sunday.
“Obviously we have a large squad and we have a lot of players back from injury so we will have the opportunity to pick who is better in the moment to still rotate some players.
“But that gives us more options in the Premier League as well to focus there and to get the results that we need.”