Arteta says more to come from established players after Coventry win amid Alvarez talk

Mikel Arteta said on 21 August 2026 that there is more to come from Arsenal’s established players after they began their Premier League title defence with a convincing victory over Coventry.

Arsenal beat Coventry with goals from Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard and had earlier this month defeated Manchester City by the same scoreline in the Community Shield. The club unveiled new £55m signing Ezri Konsa before kick-off, and the champions have won 18 of their past 19 games against newly promoted sides. Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus were absent from the match-day squad as Arsenal attempt to offload the Brazil internationals.

Arteta singled out the performances of Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard and stressed the importance of developing the existing squad: "The main focus has to be to improve our players, improve the connection between them because they are already so good," he said. "When we talk about attacking input, last season we missed some of those players for a lot of months, and the team still had the ability to perform and win a lot of matches and when we have them, then that’s a bonus." He also reiterated his view on the current roster: "I’m really happy with the squad that we have and the main focus is to improve the players that we already have because we already have a lot of good things."

There has been speculation in Spain that Arsenal could still move for Atlético Madrid’s Julián Alvarez before the end of the transfer window, the club confirmed in reports referenced in the post-match coverage. Any potential move for Alvarez was tied in the reporting to departures as Arsenal continue efforts to offload Martinelli and Jesus, with the source noting those exits would be a factor in recruitment decisions.

Arsenal were also dealing with Bruno Guimarães’s absence after the £75m midfielder was ruled out of the opener with a groin injury, but Arteta expressed optimism over his return: "We don’t expect that to be weeks. Let’s see how he evolves this week. He didn’t even want to stop. He wanted to carry on. Now we start to understand the character of the player, but I don’t expect that to be a big issue." The manager’s remarks followed the squad’s opening-day team selection and recovery monitoring.

Coventry, who returned to the Premier League for the first time since 2001 after winning the Championship last year, struggled against the champions but earned praise from manager Frank Lampard for their response. "We lost the game and we will learn our lessons. Every game won’t look like that," Lampard said. "Leeds came here last year and lost 5-0 and stayed in the Premier League so I’m not making any early judgments. There are adjustments for us to make and we’ll make them."

Arteta reiterated that the priority is improving the current squad while Arsenal balance transfer speculation and squad departures; any move for Alvarez was reported as dependent on player exits, and the club will monitor Bruno Guimarães’s recovery this week as they press on with their title defence.