Here is your Arsenal morning digest for Friday, April 1.
Cazorla claim
Mesut Ozil's agent Erkut Sogut has claimed that the former Real Madrid star begun to decline after Santi Cazorla left Arsenal in the summer of 2018.
Speaking on AFTV, Sogut said: "He (Ozil) had Santi for a while and he loved him. I think probably one of his most favourite players. Mesut is a smart, intelligent player, he reads the game and he is always looking. He loves to play with intelligent players.
"If you’re a No. 10, the one in front of you and the one behind you, a good striker and good number six who cleans it up and sees you and plays you the ball so you can give the final pass. Santi is very smart, very intelligent and has great technique and that suited Mesut a lot to have him behind him. When Santi left you could see it wasn’t the same any more, right away it changed."
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Arteta exit
Manchester United icon Gary Neville has surprisingly argued that Mikel Arteta could leave Arsenal if he secured a top-four finish this season.
"Mikel Arteta is a brilliant coach, I love that we’re seeing a team that he’s getting the maximum out of, I can see exactly how he wants to play, we all can", the former Valencia manager said at a Sky Sports fan debate. "But he gets to fourth [and] if he was really hard about it, he’d probably say 'right, that’s the best I can do there, I’m going now and getting my next job'."
Read the full quotes here.
Keane's top-four verdict
Former Sunderland boss Roy Keane has warned Arsenal that April will be a crucial month in their pursuit of UEFA Champions League qualification.
“The next month is going to be vital for Arsenal,” the former Republic of Ireland international told The Overlap. "The criticism early in the season, they probably didn’t deserve that.
"But if they finish fifth or sixth, there will still probably be a disappointment for Arsenal. That’s the reality. This is the big test for the team over the next two months.
"All the plaudits for the last months, this is crunch time for teams. If Arsenal finish sixth, I don’t think Arsenal fans will be going ‘it’s a great project, we are behind it’."
Read more here.
