Mikel Arteta held his pre-match press conference ahead of Arsenal's Premier League clash with Brighton & Hove Albion.

The media, which included Layth, gathered at the Sobha Realty Training Centre, to hear the Gunners manager discuss all matter of topics on transfer deadline day.

Read on for all he had to say: 

on Mikel Merino’s injury:

It’s very unfortunate. Yesterday he had a collision and got a shoulder injury. He’s going to be out for a few weeks. It’s really bad luck and we were all very excited. He was looking very good, he landed on the floor, Gabi went on top of him and it looks like he’s got a small fracture probably. He was in so much pain, so we have to wait and see with the staff to do some more tests to have more conclusive answers.

on deadline day:

This is football. Overall we have tried to do all the things that we wanted. There was a lot to do and still a few hours to go and I think we are prepared.

on if there will be any activity today:

Let’s see. It’s always possible. In the last 24 hours in the transfer window, never rule anything out.

on Raheem Sterling:

You know that I can’t talk about any other player.

on Aaron Ramsdale:

First of all, thank you so much for what he’s done for the club and for the team. When he joined, he brought a lot of charisma and energy and he was really good at that time. Things developed and he had a situation that was difficult for him, and he was insisting a lot that he was very happy when he plays. We tried to fulfil that desire that he had and he looked really excited and happy the other day. He’s joining a great club, a great coach and he looks really excited, so I think we’re all happy for him.

on rumours linking us with Neto:It’s clear that obviously we have lost Karl [Hein] who is a goalkeeper and obviously we’ve lost Aaron, so now we need to replace them both.on if Merino and Calafiori can get the best out of Martinelli:Hopefully. Obviously everything is very connected and especially for the wingers, the front players, to shine and be in positions of advantage against the defenders, which is the most important thing to do in football. You need players behind you that give you that opportunity and situation as often as possible, and we’ve got two players who are exceptional at doing that.on if young players like Nwaneri will play more this season:It will depend. Certainly they have earned the respect of all the team and they have done it in pre-season, and now they’re going to have to earn the right to play. They have the same chance as anyone else.on Brighton’s start to the season:We try to prepare like every manager and every team does, giving us the exact information and the relevant information that can really help us and give us what we need to win the game. We will try to do the same tomorrow for a team that is doing really well and have won all of their games with their new coach. It’s going to be a tough match.on the way the team are defending from the front:It’s been a big strength of ours, the commitment and education of every player and every ball and every single action. In those two games it’s true that we haven’t given much away, but the ones that we have given, they were pretty clear and our goalkeeper has made two big saves to give us clean sheets. So there are certainly things to improve, but I think overall the commitment of the team on that front is superb.

on setting the tone early in a 12.30pm kick-off:

We always want to do that. We are playing at home as well, get our supporters going, and create a special atmosphere and we know how important it is to have that kind of energy.

on if he’s happy with the squad at the moment:

I’m always happy with the squad. I think we have tremendous players, a magnificent group of human beings. We always want to do better, we cannot deny that, the most important thing is to try to improve our own players, and then in terms of the numbers and the quality, can we improve the squad. For sure there are margins there.

on Eddie Nketiah's potential departure:

When that happens we can talk about it.

on if we have enough firepower in attack:

Yes it’s what we have. One of the biggest strengths that we have over the past two or three years has been the way we’ve shared the goals. We are going to have to continue to do that. If we can on top of that get players to score 25 or 30 goals in the season, then it’s the perfect combination. That’s what we are trying to do.

on how to get players to score more goals than last season:

Put them in better situations, make them hungrier in that, bring clarity to the team that we can score in many different ways and score in all the ways that we can.

on the chance to get nine wins in a row with a victory against Brighton:

That would show unbelievable consistency. It’s already difficult to do what we’ve done, but we want to be better and tomorrow we are going to have to really earn it because we are going to face a really good Brighton side.

on the impact Trossard has made:Huge, and not only when he starts from the bench, when he has started games, big games. Last season you look especially at the last quarter of the season, the amount of runs of games he had was huge, and he has been really consistent with his threat on goal, with his capacity to create situations and especially big chances. And then without the ball what he’s doing is great, I’m really pleased with it.on Gabriel Jesus’ fitness:He’s progressing really well, he had a muscle injury and he’s doing quite a lot of the stuff already so we expect him to be with us really soon. 

on if he is in contention for tomorrow’s game:

No.

on if he’s happy with the squad size given the extra games this season:

We know about the depth of the squad and it’s something that we cannot change dramatically in one or two seasons. It's something that we are constantly trying to build the numbers, which is something critical, and on top of that bring more quality. We are trying to bring some quality from our academy, that looks like it's happening and that's going to be very, very helpful, and trust the players that we have and do the maximum that we can with the squad.

on how long Tomiyasu will be out for:

At the moment is difficult to say, it's a bit slow the process of the first phase of that injury. It’s probably for the medical team to say more than that. He’s not done any training yet.

on if he’s feeling comfortable in the final few hours of the window:

I wouldn't use the word comfortable working in the last hours of the transfer window in this league! But we've done a lot of the things that we wanted to do, and there are still a few hours so let’s see.

on whether he’d rather the window closed before the season:

Ideally yes. If that happens in the rest of Europe, I think that would be very helpful for everybody because we are already competing and the fact that other windows are still open creates a lot of uncertainty on the players and the clubs and the managers to understand exactly what you need to do, and when but that’s my opinion.