Every word Mikel Arteta said on Athletic Club, Odegaard and White injuries and Saliba return

Mikel Arteta addressed the media from the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao ahead of his Arsenal side’s first UEFA Champions League clash of the new season. William Saliba was spotted joining the squad on the flight to Spain, a boost for the Gunners manager.

The player had completed a session on Friday but felt it was too soon to return to action against Nottingham Forest. Ben White, however, was not spotted in the session. football.london came to learn he had indeed missed training with a minor issue.

Arsenal take on Athletic Club at 5:45pm UK time on Tuesday evening. Arteta and Ernesto Valverde are locking horns again, just a few weeks after the pair met at the Emirates in pre-season.

READ MORE: Arsenal forced to make late change for Champions League opener vs Athletic Club due to UEFA rule

READ MORE: Arsenal dealt fresh injury worry ahead of Athletic Club as Champions League reality clear

Here is every word Mikel Arteta said in Friday’s press conference:

Just speaking to David Raya about the campaign you had last season in the Champions League. What's the feeling coming into this one?

Well, we're excited to start again from scratch in a beautiful place, in a stadium that is going to generate something special. We're looking forward to that. I'm very excited, again, to, step by step, start to build some momentum and start to have some wins.

Can I just ask about a couple of fitness issues you have in the squad? William Saliba trained today but didn't seem to be. Martin Odegaard, is he available?

No. So, Gabi [Jesus], Kai [Havertz], Ben [White] and Martin [Odegaard] are still out, unfortunately.

And this season, there seems to be a lot of talk about the way teams are playing. A lot more set-pieces, long throws and maybe a more direct nature in football. Why do you think that is? You're a team that's been taking advantage of those set-pieces and throws for a while.

Evolution of the game. The game is faster, the space is smaller and everybody's trying to take advantage from other aspects of the game that are obviously key, actually, to win football matches. And, again, you have to dominate, nowadays, everything in football to give yourself the best chance to win the games.

You've spoken a lot last week about being from the area, how great Bilbao is. You played a minute here as a Real Sociedad player. Do you still feel that, or is there any sense of that old rivalry coming into this experience for you? Because, obviously, there's actually quite a strong Real Sociedad contingency.

Yes, of course. We land in Bilbao. That's normally where I land when I go back home to San Sebastian. It's an hour's drive from there. All my family is from there. You just sense the passion, the rivalry, the football atmosphere. It's great to be here. I've never been in this stadium before, so it's a good experience.

Has Martin flown out with the team?

No. Back home.

Just how important... I know he's spoken about it before this season, but rotation, especially this year in the Champions League, is it a case that we're not going to see the same starting XI in every game in the Champions League? Because there's a chance to rotate and give other players a rest and other players a chance?

Yes, well, it will depend on the availability of the squad, the form of the players. Now, unfortunately, we have a few players already out, so that is already limited in certain positions. But hopefully we come to the point that the competition and the level of performance of the players is that high that we are able to do that very efficiently to win more football matches, that's the objective.

And with Kai and Gabi out, Victor's on his own up there, are you going to have a chance to be able to rest him at all and bring other players into that role? Or do you think he's going to have to leave the line now for a while without a real rest?

Well, let's see. Against Forest at the end, Mikel played as a nine. We have Leo who can play there. We have a lot of options, a lot of formations that we can adjust to that. At the moment, Victor is doing really well, so I'm really happy with that.

Do you have any updates on Bukayo Saka, where he is with his injury?

No, I think there's still quite a lot of things to go through. It’s very early to understand when, which week he's going to be available, but he will certainly be pushing to be available as quick as possible.

Your team, of course, reached the semi-finals last season in this competition. This time around, with a squad that you've got now with £250million and the reinforcements you've got in all positions, do you now see this as a moment where you can go one step further and possibly get the final win in the competition, maybe?

Yeah, like the rest of the teams, they have done the same and they continue to do that and they've won it in many occasions. That's the aim in the beginning, but we all know that it's going to be a really long journey. The margins in this competition are super small and you have to be at your very best when they want to give yourself the best possible chance.

And what in particular did you learn from the competition last season, which you're going to take into this competition this time around?

That we are good enough, that we can compete against any opposition on the day. And on top of that, that two things have to go your way. You need to have a full squad available when it comes to the most critical moments in the season. And then as well, when the ball has to go in the right moment or with the right decision, it has to be as well because the margins are so small.

Was part of the strengthening in a lot of numbers this summer down to that feeling when you're in the semi-final and your numbers are short and you think, I don't want to be here next year where you're struggling to put out your best team when it counts?

Well, when we were training and we had eight or nine key players and we're going to to games with 13 players and that level is extremely difficult. But I think even with that condition, we did really, really well. We gave ourselves an unbelievable chance and we were very unlucky in the semi-final not to get through.

David Raya was just here. He was talking about how much it almost seems to still hurt when he thinks about the semi-final and being in that position. I hate to take you back to that moment, but how much does it drive you to have that experience as a young manager when you get so close to the top of the mountain?

Well, it is that. And that moment you get deflated and you have to understand what you need to do to put yourself back in the same position and it's that action actually that matters to give yourself the chance to achieve that. That's it. You take a lot of learning from it. It's painful because it's not only what we feel, it's about the expectation that we created and the real conviction that we had within the club, the team, that we could go all the way because we showed a very high level of consistency and quality throughout the competition and learn from it and try to be better.

Just the way you started the season, do you sense from the players that after the heart of last season, they're ready to win the Champions League? You mentioned...

But it's not that simple. I mean, you are so willing to do and you want to be better. I sense a very clear intention that they want to be better every single day and that's the start and the end. There is nothing else to control. Create the energy, the belief among the players, the understanding and the feeling that we can compete against any opposition and yeah, certainly they have that.

You mentioned about flying to Bilbao, so is all of your family coming to this match tomorrow?

All of them, no, but a big majority will come, and I'm really looking forward to that.

You're getting a lot of questions about winning the Champions League and understanding it's the start of the season, but Arsenal are probably the biggest club that's never won it. Is there a pressure that you feel with that because Liverpool have won it multiple times and then United, Chelsea. You want to win it? Obviously, but how important is it to win that first one for Arsenal?

Well, that tells you with our long history how difficult it is because we haven't won it yet and that's the opportunity. That's how I see it. The pressure is the opportunity that drives that energy, that willingness to be better every single day, to make decisions that are in that direction and every decision. And if we win that match, every decision has to be with that standard and with those expectations and let's give our best chance to try to do it.

Do you feel that going close actually helps? You were with Pep Guardiola for a few years when they were knocking on the door. Does that disappointment ultimately help you get on the line?

Yeah, and they're big clubs. I mean, they try seven, eight, nine times and they win two. So, in this competition, it's going to be one and you fail much more than you succeed. That's the nature of that. That's the history of our club and that's what we want to change.