Arsenal managed to complete a surprise move for Raheem Sterling in the final few minutes of the transfer window, with the winger joining on loan from Chelsea.
Edu Gaspar pulled off a masterclass as he secured the winger on a loan deal with Chelsea paying the majority of his wages, and Mikel Arteta will now reunite with the 29-year-old.
Sterling was outstanding at Manchester City when working with Arteta, who was Pep Guardiola’s assistant during the Englishman’s best campaigns.
The winger, who has lost his place in the England side, suffered a difficult spell at Chelsea, but still scored 18 goals in the last two seasons, and he will hope to get back to his best under Arteta at Arsenal.
Although some may have questioned the move given Sterling’s difficult recent spell, Arteta has now explained that he had absolutely no doubts that he wanted to sign the attacker.
Mikel Arteta praises Raheem Sterling attitude following Arsenal move
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the North London derby, Arteta praised Sterling’s attitude since he arrived at Arsenal.
“He looks great,” Arteta stated.
“First of all, because he’s got a big smile on his face, a lot of energy, he’s at it and wants to prove a point.
“When someone’s got that in his belly, you sense it straight away. Obviously I don’t need to discover anything about his quality and what he can bring to the team.”
“What I see is hunger and a player that wants to play every minute of every game. When it’s not the case, he’s not happy. He loves football, it’s what he likes doing every single day and I see that.
“His commitment, the level of energy that he’s bringing to the team and the quality is a big push. You can feel it with the players as well. When he’s walking through the door, we are better with him and he’s going to make us better.”
Mikel Arteta instantly knew he wanted to sign Raheem Sterling
The decision to bring in Sterling on deadline day, much to the surprise of his former teammate Jorginho, was an easy one for Arteta, who has now claimed that he only needed 10 seconds to decide that the winger would be a good fit for his team.
“Obviously in his personal life a lot of things have changed since we were together,” Arteta added.
“The first call I had with him, I knew straight away after 10 seconds, we have to bring him because he really wanted it, you know. And that was my only question mark, what stage is he at in his career, but I knew already after 10 seconds. Bring him here.
“He has this ability and the credit for that is him and the players that he has around him. You need that if you’re one of the front players. He has that intuition, that will and ability to do that. I’m sure he’s going to impact the team.”
If Arteta can get Sterling back to his best form, then he will be a serious asset on both wings for Arsenal, and given the low cost of the deal, he could prove to be one of the bargains of the summer.
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