Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta will spend the international break trying to get Raheem Sterling up to speed to ensure he can make his debut for the club at Tottenham.
Sterling sealed a dramatic deadline-day season-long loan move to the Gunners after being frozen out by new Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca.
The 29-year-old worked with Arteta at Manchester City and scored 10 goals last season for the Blues, but has not played any football since pre-season after being controversially left out of the Chelsea matchday squad for their season opener with City two weeks ago.
Raheem Sterling 🤝 The Arsenal
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 31, 2024
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After an ill-tempered 1-1 draw at home to Brighton on Saturday, Arsenal have a fortnight to prepare for a trip to Spurs on September 15 and Arteta kept his cards close to his chest when quizzed on if his new attacker may feature in the north London derby.
“We have to see him, speak to him (about) what he’s been doing and how he’s feeling about it,” Arteta said.
“Try to find quick wins to get him up to speed as quickly as possible and for him to understand what we are looking for from him in the dynamics of the team.
“We will use that time to do that and get him involved as soon as possible.”
Arteta faces a midfield dilemma for the clash at Tottenham with Declan Rice set to serve a one-match suspension after his red card against Brighton.
Summer signing Mikel Merino would ordinarily be in line to be drafted into midfield, but a shoulder injury sustained in training will rule him out.
It means the Gunners chief will have to either drop captain Martin Odegaard back alongside Thomas Partey or bring in Jorginho.
He added: “Well, this is what happens. We have to adapt to that context.
“That’s why we have other players that can fulfil that (role) and (I can) give that opportunity to somebody else.”
Jurrien Timber was also forced off in the draw with Brighton, but Arteta played down fears over the Dutch defender who missed the majority of the 2023-24 campaign with a serious knee injury.
“No, he was cramping. He got a kick in the first half and then was cramping so we had to take him off,” Arteta explained.
Brighton head into the international break with seven points out of nine under new boss Fabian Hurzeler.
Captain Lewis Dunk was happy to bounce back after his error contributed towards Arsenal’s opener with a key pass for the leveller.
“From being in a difficult position, I have to look at myself in the first goal, we bounced back from that,” Dunk said.
“The 10 men makes a difference for us but in the end we didn’t create enough chances.
“It’s a good point. The Emirates is a tough place to come.
“You make mistakes in football. Everyone makes them and it is how you react to the mistakes.
“You’ve got to try and forget about it, but it was nice to set one up at the other end. At least I bounced back a little bit.”
