{"id":234441,"date":"2025-08-15T16:47:45","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T16:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abianewscentral.com.ng\/arteta-gives-fitness-update-ahead-of-united-clash-odegaard-keeps-captaincy-by-unanimous-vote\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T16:47:45","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T16:47:45","slug":"arteta-gives-fitness-update-ahead-of-united-clash-odegaard-keeps-captaincy-by-unanimous-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/arteta-gives-fitness-update-ahead-of-united-clash-odegaard-keeps-captaincy-by-unanimous-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"Arteta Gives Fitness Update Ahead Of United Clash, Odegaard Keeps Captaincy By Unanimous Vote"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Arteta Gives Fitness Update Ahead Of United Clash, Odegaard Keeps Captaincy By Unanimous Vote<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"mvp-content-main\">\n<h2>Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has announced a double boost ahead of Sunday\u2019s Premier League showdown with Manchester United, confirming that new signings Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi are in contention to feature at Old Trafford.<\/h2>\n<p>Both players, who arrived this summer from Sporting CP and Real Sociedad respectively, have been integrating into the squad during pre-season. While there were minor concerns over their readiness, Mikel Arteta suggested they could be involved this weekend.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cHe [Gyokeres] is getting better and better every day,\u201d<\/em> Arteta said. <em>\u201cHe is normally a really fit player and he has had the small moments in two games [in pre-season] with us, so let\u2019s see what he brings on Sunday. Martin [Zubimendi] has had a great integration into the team and we are really happy with him. He will be fit for Sunday.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-3 ai-track\" data-ai=\"WzMsMCwiSXNhYWMiLCIiLDRd\" style=\"margin: 8px auto; text-align: center; display: block; clear: both;\">\n<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSd3GiRw0g6bOS3kAtHb1Yhc5Jic6iTkM9pA5DhIB13uZgDpGQ\/viewform?usp=sharing&amp;ouid=102633326415294296882\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1026109\" src=\"https:\/\/www.naijanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-08-09-at-16.23.48.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"560\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><\/div>\n<p>The Spaniard also confirmed that Martin Odegaard will remain Arsenal\u2019s captain after a squad vote saw the Norwegian chosen <em>\u201cby a mile\u201d<\/em> to continue wearing the armband. The unanimous decision came days after former club skipper Tony Adams publicly suggested Declan Rice should take over.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cMy opinion is clear, and it is the same as all the staff and the players,\u201d<\/em> Arteta explained. <em>\u201cI asked them to vote for the captain yesterday, and by a mile, they all chose the same person, Martin Odegaard. Which is the most clear sign you can have of how the squad feel we can improve?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>On the other side, United boss Ruben Amorim confirmed that \u00a373 million signing Benjamin Sesko is fit and could start against Arsenal. The Slovenian striker, who was once linked with the Gunners, is expected to spearhead a new-look attack alongside Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cPhysically he is ready,\u201d<\/em> Amorim said. <em>\u201cThat is a big component in our league. He\u2019s going to feel that the Premier League is really aggressive.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 4 --><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><span class=\"copyright\"><strong>\u00a9 2025 Naija News, a division of Polance Media Inc. Contact us via [email\u00a0protected]<\/strong><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p>2025-2026 Premier League fixtures, 2025-2026 Premier League season, Arsenal, Manchester United, Mikel Arteta,<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.naijanews.com\/2025\/08\/15\/arteta-gives-fitness-update-ahead-of-united-clash-odegaard-keeps-captaincy-by-unanimous-vote\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arteta Gives Fitness Update Ahead Of United Clash, Odegaard Keeps Captaincy By Unanimous Vote Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has announced a double boost ahead of Sunday\u2019s Premier League showdown with Manchester United, confirming that new signings Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi are in contention to feature at Old Trafford. Both players, who arrived this summer [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":234442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[1554,653,443,577,1555],"class_list":["post-234441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-2025-2026-premier-league-fixtures","tag-2025-2026-premier-league-season","tag-arsenal","tag-manchester-united","tag-mikel-arteta"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234441\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abiaradiostations.com.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}