Mikel Arteta has refused to rule out a new contract for Alexandre Lacazette and says he has no concerns about the striker's motivation amid uncertainty over his future.
Lacazette came off the bench to score a late equaliser in the Gunners' 2-2 Premier League draw with Crystal Palace on Monday.
The 30-year-old forward's contract expires at the end of this season and he will be able to speak to clubs outside of England about a pre-contract agreement in January.
However, Arteta insisted the Frenchman remains a key member of the squad, praising his display against Palace and leaving the door open for fresh terms to be offered.
In all competitions at Arsenal, Lacazette has scored three goals (behind only Aubameyang) and registered one assist in just 185 minutes of football, recording the best minutes-per-goal ratio at the club with 61.67.
"[I want Lacazette to] keep doing what he’s doing, he had a good impact as well against Brighton," Arteta said ahead of the Gunners' match with Aston Villa on Friday.
"Since I've been here he’s played a lot and been important and he will continue to be important.
"I think he was able to transmit that energy [against Palace] and that was contagious for the rest of the team and for the stadium.
"He created a different atmosphere straight away with his energy, with his quality as well and the determination that he showed to change the result. [He had] that belief in himself that he could do it.
"I had no doubts about [his motivation] and if I did I would probably have decided to do something different in the summer if the motivation was just his financial future. It's not the case with Laca and he's a really important player for us.
"Anything is possible [regarding a contract extension]."
The Arsenal boss bemoaned the fact his side dropped off after going ahead instead of attempting to extend their advantage and believes that is a mentality the Gunners need to change.
"After scoring the goal and after hitting the level of performance that we were hitting in the first part of the game, we just need to make sure that we go for the second [goal] and we continue to play with the same fluidity, with the same intention and we don't start to defend something that we have because the game is really long," Arteta added.
Bukayo Saka was forced off at half-time after being kicked in the calf by Palace midfielder James McArthur and Arteta says he has not trained ahead of the upcoming Premier League fixture.
The Gunners boss believes the offending player should have been sent off instead of being shown a yellow card and does not understand why the VAR did not step in.
"We had communication with the referees and the associations to try to explain why they didn't intervene [when McArthur kicked Saka] when the explanation at the start of the season is that they would when there's an obvious error," Arteta continued.
"They had to take action and they didn't and there are actions that determine a football match and the result. For me, it's not acceptable."
Arsenal face Villa at the Emirates Stadium on October 22 as they look to close the three-point gap between themselves and the top six.
Arsenal sporting director Edu steps down
Arsenal have confirmed Edu has resigned from his role as the club's sporting director.
Edu, a former Arsenal player who was part of the "Invincibles" squad in the 2003-04 season, has been involved in the behind-the-scenes running of the Gunners since July 2019.
He first returned to the club as technical director, and was promoted to sporting director in November 2022.
Edu has played a key role in supporting Mikel Arteta, and helping the Spaniard transform the Gunners into Premier League title contenders.
Reports emerged on Monday, however, that the Brazilian was quitting his role, with speculation mounting that he will be joining Evangelos Marinakis' footballing organisation - the Greek magnate owns Nottingham Forest and Olympiakos.
"This was an incredibly hard decision to make," Edu said in a statement released on Arsenal's website.
"Arsenal has given me the opportunity to work with so many amazing people and the chance to be a part of something so special in the club’s history. It has been a special journey.
"I've loved working with so many great colleagues across our men’s, women’s and academy teams, especially Mikel, who has become a great friend.
"Now it is time to pursue a different challenge. Arsenal will always remain in my heart. I wish the club and its supporters only good things and all the very best."
The news comes after Arsenal were beaten 1-0 by Newcastle United on Saturday to leave them seven points adrift of Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Arsenal face Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Premier League MD10: Lucky winners and unlucky losers
We are now 10 games into the Premier League season and the table is beginning to take shape, but that does not mean there is no room for an upset or two.
On Saturday, both Manchester City and Arsenal fell to surprise defeats at Bournemouth and Newcastle United respectively.
It was only the third time since the start of 2017-18 that both of the previous season's top two teams had lost on the same day in the Premier League, after March 7, 2021 and January 14, 2023.
Pep Guardiola's champions could have few complaints about the result at the Vitality Stadium, where Andoni Iraola's Cherries won the expected goals (xG) battle by 2.04 to 1.56.
But which other games featured a lucky winner or an unlucky loser? We delve into the Opta data to find out.
Unlucky losers: Arsenal
The weekend's action began with Arsenal travelling to St James' Park to face Newcastle, with Mikel Arteta's side chasing a victory to move within a point of leaders Liverpool.
However, they succumbed to a 1-0 defeat as Alexander Isak's early goal proved enough for Newcastle to make it three wins in their last four home league games against Arsenal (one loss).
The Gunners could count themselves unlucky to come away from Tyneside with nothing, however, after limiting Newcastle to a measly 0.53 xG – 0.25 of which came from the chance for Isak's goal.
Only West Ham, who played half of their defeat to Nottingham Forest with 10 men, created a lower figure across the nine games to take place this weekend, with 0.13 xG.
Arsenal were far from their free-flowing best, though, only recording 10 attempts worth 1.05 xG themselves. They have averaged just 7.4 shots per game in their away Premier League matches this season, with only Brentford (7.5) taking fewer.
Lucky winners: Southampton
Just two teams – Wolves and Ipswich Town – remain without a victory in the Premier League after Southampton finally got off the mark by beating Everton 1-0 at St Mary's.
Russell Martin's team accumulated just 0.74 xG to Everton's 1.56, but Adam Armstrong's strike five minutes from time handed them a huge three points in their fight for safety.
While Beto, who headed against the crossbar just 25 seconds before Armstrong's winner, and Jack Harrison spurned great chances for the Toffees, Southampton were also grateful for a late VAR intervention, as the former saw a potential leveller chalked off for a marginal offside call.
It was the first time Everton had failed to score against Southampton in the Premier League since February 2022, bringing their five-match unbeaten run in the competition to a halt.
Unlucky losers: Crystal Palace
Southampton ended the weekend in 19th, above winless Wolves after they were pegged back in a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace at Molineux.
Marc Guehi salvaged a draw for the Eagles, who were without star men Adam Wharton and Eberechi Eze yet arguably still did enough to leave the West Midlands with all three points.
They racked up 19 shots totalling 2.51 xG to their hosts' 11, which had a total value of 1.51 xG. Palace's xG figure was the highest in the Premier League this weekend, but they were missing their shooting boots as Ismaila Sarr squandered two glorious chances when they were a goal to the good in the second half.
With both defences struggling, this was only the second Premier League game of the season to be goalless at half-time but see both sides score at least twice in the second half, after Everton 2-3 Bournemouth in August.
There could have been a fifth goal in stoppage time, too, as Jean-Phillipe Mateta saw a potential winner disallowed for a foul on Jose Sa in the build-up. Wolves – and their under-fire head coach Gary O'Neil – arguably got away with one.
Lucky winners: Chelsea
Sunday's late game saw Chelsea fight back to draw 1-1 with Manchester United at Old Trafford, denying Ruud van Nistelrooy a first Premier League win as the Red Devils' interim head coach.
Moises Caicedo's well-taken volley cancelled out Bruno Fernandes' penalty and Chelsea arguably looked the more likely victors in the second half, but they only generated 1.1 xG from their 12 attempts – and just 0.29 from six after the interval.
United, meanwhile, had chances worth 1.98 xG, though Fernandes' spot-kick – with an xG value of 0.79 – was a major contributing factor.
Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho squandered decent opportunities for United, though, and incoming boss Ruben Amorim has plenty of work to do with their attackers.
United have scored just nine goals in 10 Premier League games this season – their worst record through 10 matches of any league campaign since 1973-74 (also nine).
Fans of a certain vintage will need no reminder of what happened at the end of that season – United were relegated from the First Division, their fate sealed by club legend Denis Law scoring against them with a nonchalant backheel, while representing rivals Man City.
Inzaghi urges Nerazzurri improvements ahead of Arsenal, Napoli clashes
Inter coach Simone Inzaghi acknowledged his side need to be more ruthless in front of goal following their Serie A win over Venezia, with matches against Arsenal and Napoli coming up.
Lautaro Martinez's first home goal in league action since February handed the Nerazzurri a hard-fought 1-0 win at San Siro, though they missed several chances to make their victory more comfortable.
Inzaghi's team racked up 20 shots worth 2.41 expected goals (xG) to Venezia's seven attempts and 1.07 xG during Sunday's game.
They have now scored in each of their 28 league games at San Siro after failing to net in three in a row between March and April 2023, but Inzaghi knows they must take their chances when they face Arsenal and Napoli this week.
"We should’ve been more clinical, but to be honest, I congratulated the team because the first half was excellent even if we wasted big opportunities," he told DAZN.
"Once we broke the deadlock, the big regret is that we didn’t kill off the game and when it is in the balance, anything can still happen."
Arsenal visit San Siro in the Champions League on Wednesday, before Napoli – who are currently one point clear at the top of Serie A – make the trip on Sunday.
"In two days we are up against one of the best teams in Europe with huge quality, so clearly my focus right now is on Arsenal," Inzaghi said.
The 48-year-old expressed concern about the challenging schedule ahead but felt relieved after seeing key players return.
"This is our fifth game in two weeks, there are another two to come against Arsenal and Napoli, but we’ve got Hakan Calhanoglu back and Francesco Acerbi will be available on Wednesday too," he said.
"Carlos Augusto is the only one still out and as a coach I will need everyone."
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