Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta offers his thoughts on player power when it comes to transfers | OneFootball

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta offered some fascinating insight into the influence of player power amid the challenges clubs faced during the summer transfer window.

Speaking at ‘Steve Kerr & Mikel Arteta: The Leadership Playbook’ last Friday alongside Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, Arteta addressed a question from the audience about players attempting to force moves away from their clubs.

Alexander Isak’s protracted transfer saga created plenty of debate this summer, as he was left out of Newcastle’s pre-season tour and matchday squads while awaiting a move to Liverpool.

Newcastle’s new signing Yoane Wissa was also omitted from Brentford squads as he awaited his own transfer.

“I think that’s been an ongoing issue for many years,” Arteta admitted.

“I had players that I played with that tried to put the club, whether it was the club, the owner or the manager in a really difficult position by threatening or by acting or behaving in a certain way to push a deal to go through and move somewhere else is part of it.

“I think in Spain it is different because you have a release clause. You pay that release clause, you are out, you don’t have to explain to anybody. In England, the law is different and the contracts and the legal part are different. You have to live with that possibility.”

Arteta was discussing a range of topics, including leadership, with Kerr in an auditorium in central London.

Kerr is a nine-time NBA champion, having won it five times as a player during stints with the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs and four as a coach with the Golden State Warriors, as well as an Olympic Gold medal as the head coach for Team USA during the 2024 Olympics.

“I think when you are in our shoes, especially with the ownership, the guy at the end has to give the green light,” Arteta continued.

“We need to understand it is going to go legal, with what is allowed to happen and what is not allowed to happen.

“There are certain boundaries that are really thin. And if they move through those boundaries, actually, it’s your choice how you want to act. You can suspend a player, you can get a player out, go back to the position as Steve mentioned before, how good is the player, how big is the problem, how big is that gap?

“And sometimes it’s just not good to say, but is it can we afford not to do it? There will be some clubs where they will be in a position to say can we afford not to do this if we get pushed to do this? And this is the nature of that.

“At the end, the big fish eats the smaller fish, like in many other companies. People are very ambitious. There are a lot of issues in terms of regulations in football at the moment, and in my opinion, it has to be resolved or improved, but while they’re not, I think those issues will remain.”