Michael Owen has described Arsenal as “completely classless” after they backed manager Mikel Arteta’s comments following Saturday’s defeat to Newcastle United.
The Gunners were condemned to a controversial defeat by Anthony Gordon’s controversial goal, as the Magpies forward survived three different VAR reviews before celebrating the only goal of the game. However, a number of other controversial decisions were made during the stormy 90 minutes at St James’ Park, prompting Arteta’s speeches to be described as “disgraceful” and “disgraceful”.
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The club backed the Spaniard in a statement released on Sunday afternoon, with the Gunners giving their manager their “full support” and calling on the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) to note the standard of delivery. That claim and Arteta’s actions after the game drew a withering assessment from former Liverpool and England striker Owen, who claimed both sides were guilty of “spoiling the game”.
Speaking on his X account (formerly Twitter), he said: “The Newcastle-Arsenal game yesterday was great to watch. Two top teams involved.
“The only thing (in his words) ’embarrassing’ and ‘disgraceful’ about it was Arteta’s behaviour, a common occurrence that hurts the game more than any wrong decision. For his club to now issue a statement complaining about the standard of delivery is poor and unfortunately completely classless for the Arsenal team.”
The Gunners face a “record fee” to sign the Aston Villa star.
Former Scotland international Alan Hutton believes Arsenal will have to spend big to secure long-term transfer target Douglas Luiz.
The Aston Villa midfielder has been in superb form this season, scoring six goals and providing one assist in 17 appearances in all competitions as Unai Emery’s side made an impressive start to their campaign.
Arsenal were thought to have registered an interest in the Brazilian last January, but Hutton claimed the Gunners will now have to pay more than £100m to sign Luiz.
He told Football Insider: “I think at the moment it should be more than £50m based on some of the market values. He’s at a great age, he’s been outstanding. He could probably play for most teams in the Premier League, with Manchester City being the strongest.
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“So obviously people are sniffing. He’s got a great goalscoring record at Villa Park, you see what he gives you from kicks – penalties, corners, free-kicks. I think he ticks all the boxes. I think we’re talking. register fees here. Obviously, Jack Grealish is the highest and he won’t get there, but we’re talking record numbers for a midfielder here.
“Hopefully he doesn’t because he’s a big part of what Villa do going forward, but it should be a big number.”