Arteta confident on Aubameyang, wants Messi in EPL
RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT
VIDEO SHOWS: NEWS CONFERENCE WITH ARSENAL MANAGER, MIKEL ARTETA, FILE FOOTAGE OF PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG, FILE FOOTAGE OF LIONEL MESSI
SHOWS:
LONDON COLNEY, NEAR LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - MAY 21, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
1. ARSENAL STRIKER PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG AT TRAINING
2. AUBAMEYANG SHARING A JOKE AND REHEARSING GOAL CELEBRATIONS WITH FELLOW STRIKER ALEXANDRE LACAZETTE
LONDON COLNEY, NEAR LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 27, 2020) (ARSENAL HANDOUT - ACCESS ALL)
3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARSENAL MANAGER MIKEL ARTETA, TALKING ABOUT PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG, SAYING:
"Well, I keep being positive and we have some really good talks with him and his agent and I am pretty confident that we are going to find an agreement soon, that is my feeling again."
VALENCIA, SPAIN (FILE - MAY 8, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
4. AUBAMEYANG WARMING UP NEXT TO LACAZETTE
LONDON COLNEY, NEAR LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 27, 2020) (ARSENAL HANDOUT - ACCESS ALL)
5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARSENAL MANAGER, MIKEL ARTETA, RESPONDING TO QUESTION ABOUT LIONEL MESSI, SAYING:
"He has been linked everywhere, he has more clubs that any other player in history after him. I have been a Barcelona fan since when I was young, so it is always sad to see which in my opinion he has been the best player in football history leave that football club, but let's see what happens, and if he comes to England, we are all going to enjoy that."
REPORTER, ASKING (English) (OFF CAMERA): "Even if it is against Arsenal?"
"It doesn't matter, it is good for football. We are going to have to find a way, and if he is not there then we might find him in the Champions League you never know. You want the best players in your league. For me that is the best thing as an athlete to have the most competitive league in the world, and the Premier League always had that. We had it with Ronaldo and I played against him and it was great, because it raises the level of every individual and every team as well."
LISBON, PORTUGAL (AUGUST 13, 2020) (UEFA - NO RESALES, NO COMMERCIAL USE, MUST ON-SCREEN COURTESY "©UEFA 2020")
6. VARIOUS OF LIONEL MESSI DURING TRAINING
7. BARCELONA TEAM TRAINING
8. VARIOUS OF MESSI
LONDON COLNEY, NEAR LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 27, 2020) (ARSENAL HANDOUT - ACCESS ALL)
9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARSENAL MANAGER, MIKEL ARTETA, SAYING:
"Well we had two training sessions, so you can imagine that this game straight in the middle of our mini pre-season, but as well, we haven't had much time to lose a lot of the condition. Obviously it is not an ideal time to play this final, but the players are motivated, obviously it is another opportunity to win a trophy and we will go for it."
LONDON COLNEY, NEAR LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - NOVEMBER 27, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
12. AUBAMEYANG WARMING UP AMONG TEAM MATES
STORY: Arsenal are confident striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will sign a new contract which would tie him to the club for a "long time", manager Mikel Arteta said on Thursday (August 27).
Gabon international Aubameyang, 31, has been Arsenal's top scorer in each of the past two seasons and has only one year left on his current contract.
"I keep being positive, we have had some really good talks with him and his agent," Arteta told reporters in a virtual news conference ahead of Saturday's Community Shield match against Liverpool at Wembley. "I'm confident we will find an agreement soon."
Aubameyang's double strikes in the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City and in the final versus London rivals Chelsea ensured Arsenal qualified for the Europa League.
Having been named captain for the second half of the season, the Wembley triumph delivered the striker's first trophy with the club since he joined from Borussia Dortmund in January 2018.
Meanwhile Arteta said he would be sad to see Lionel Messi leave Barcelona, but if the want-away Argentine ended up in the Premier League, it would be a boost for the English game.
(Production: Iain Axon)
