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Arsenal stumbled to a 3-1 defeat at Manchester United on Sunday at Old Trafford, which ended their perfect start to their Premier League campaign. Nevertheless, they remain atop the standings, leading holders Manchester City by a point after six games.
Meanwhile, former Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Paul Robinson has explained why the Gunners missed out on Aston Villa's Douglas Luiz. Elsewhere, Emile Smith Rowe was injured during the warm-down after Sunday's game.
On that note, here's a look at the key Arsenal transfer stories as on September 5, 2022:
Paul Robinson explains why Arsenal missed out on Douglas Luiz
Paul Robinson believes Aston Villa held on to Douglas Luiz, as keeping him at the club would be more beneficial than letting him go. Arsenal wanted the Brazilian at the Emirates on deadline day, offering £25 million for the player whose current contract expires next year, but Villa refused to part with him.
Speaking to Football Insider, Robinson said that Villa did so because manager Steven Gerrard saw more value in keeping him.
"Villa made a decision based on value. They will have deemed that having Douglas Luiz for one more season is worth more than £25million. Ultimately Steven Gerrard believes that he needs Luiz, and that is why they have not sold him to Arsenal," said Robinson.
Robinson added that he expects Luiz to stay at the club till the end of the season.
“Villa’s aim this season is to finish higher than last year. They have not started well. The midfield is an area in their squad where they do not have an abundance of talent. They clearly saw value in Luiz staying at least until January. I think he will stay until the end of the season though," said Robinson.
The former Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper also pointed out that replacing Luiz wouldn't have been easy, as a replacement might not have hit the ground running.
“To replace him, they’d have to at least pay a loan fee for a player. Having weighed everything up, the money they would have got in would probably not have been worth it. There would be no guarantee that a replacement would fit in as quickly," said Robinson.
The Gunners could return for the player in January.
Emile Smith Rowe picks up injury in warm down
Emile Smith Rowe picked up an injury while warming down after the defeat to Manchester United, according to acclaimed journalist David Ornstein.
The Englishman has struggled to break into the Gunners' first team this season owing to the splendid form of the team's attack. Smith Rowe started from the bench on Sunday and was substituted in the second half.
While he failed to make the desired impact, the Englishman was expected to secure more chances ahead of a busy period. However, Smith Rowe pulled up while warming down after the game. He subsequently returned to the dressing room, while the rest of the team carried on with the session.
Gunners have to learn from their mistakes, says Arteta
Mikel Arteta believes his team have to learn from their mistakes against Manchester United. Arsenal saw their winning start to the season get snapped at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Arsenal had an early goal disallowed, as VAR ruled that there was a foul by Martin Odegaard on Christian Eriksen in the build-up. United opened the scoring through new signing Antony before the league leaders replied through Bukayo Saka.
The hosts then scored two unanswered goals after the interval to climb up to fifth in the standings. After the game, Arteta said that his team lacked discipline in various areas of the pitch.
"We have to learn from that. We lacked the discipline that is necessary in certain areas of the pitch against these world-class players to prevent certain spaces, because overall when you look at the performance and the way we played, obviously the result should’ve been very, very different," said Arteta
Arteta admitted that there were positives from the game but said that those have to be backed by results.
"The personality of the team showed, the way we dominated the game, the way we imposed ourselves in the way we wanted to play. That has to be backed up with a result. That’s the disappointment today," said Arteta.
Arsenal next face FC Zurich in their UEFA Europa League opener on Thursday (September 8).
