Manager Mikel Arteta ready to face former Arsenal men in Premier League title quest

Arsenal will face their former manager Unai Emery and goalkeeper Emi Martinez at Villa Park in the big match of the second round of Premier League matches of the season.

Both Aston Villa men were key figures in Arsenal’s narrow miss on last season’s title which can be simplistically put down to unexpectedly dropping points against Villa home and away last season.

The prospect of facing former homegrown Gunner Martinez, the Argentina World Cup winner, widely regarded as the best NO.1 in the world, brings into focus how Arsenal along with many of their Premier League rivals have seemed to follow a path of selling their youth players for profit in recent seasons.

Arteta insists Arsenal should not be compared to the likes of Chelsea in this respect, but concedes saying goodbye to players who have grown up at Arsenal is a tough side of the job.

He commented: “Every rule has its consequences. If somebody has thought about that early and that is what we want, then that is what we want. If you put the offside line somewhere we know what to do. We have to accept that.

Attacking midfielder Emile Smith Rowe is one of over 20 players who have departed the club this summer. His £34m move to Fulham has effectively paid for the impending arrival of Spain’s Mikel Merino. Arsenal FA Cup winning hero Martinez left for Villa in a £20m package four years ago.

Striker Eddie Nketiah and midfielder Charlie Patino could be next to leave this week. Reiss Nelson is the subject of interest too. They could join a list of fellow homegrown departees this summer that includes players such as Reuell Walters, Amario Cozier-Duberry, Arthur Okonkwo, Omari Benjamin and Tyreece John-Jules.

Many of those failed to make a huge impact at the club, but the pattern has been set.

Arteta added that the club’s often quoted aim of having half home grown and half homegrown players misses a key part of their mantra.

He explained: “The sentence should finish, half academy, half foreign or whatever and to then win the Premier League and Champions League consistently. That second half is the difference. I have a great example in Athletic Bilbao. What they have done with academy players and Basque players is remarkable. But can they win La Liga and the Champions League every year? That is a different task.”

Reflecting on the departure of Smith Rowe and other youth products, he commented: “I know how the boys feel when they are in that building and how hard they all work at the lcub to get them close to the first team so I feel a responsibility too – to get them the chance and then help them sustain the level to make us better. That is the idea that we have.”

Arteta’s not unreasonable analysis of last season’s Villa defeats shows his side could comfortably have won both matches and has his players finely tuned for a return to winning ways this time.

A significant difference to last season’s away day defeat is Arteta’s return to the dug out and the touchline, after sitting out a ban last season – for the booking he received after celebrating a late, late winner in an earlier match at Luton Town.

“I didn’t enjoy it one bit,” Arteta said. “The moment I love the most during the week, you are building everything to get to that moment on the grass next to the players.”