Mikel Arteta gets demand from club legends as £51m star rules out transfer

Mikel Arteta was targeted with some strong criticism by two legendary Arsenal figures after the Gunners edged past Sporting CP in the Champions League

Arsenal are in concerning form as the dust settles on their Champions League victory and they look ahead to this weekend's nail-biting return to the Premier League. Mikel Arteta's men secured their place in the Champions League semi-finals for the second successive season on Wednesday night.

In a far from convincing display, Arsenal held on to a 1-0 lead from the first leg in Lisbon, drawing 0-0 at the Emirates Stadium. The performance failed to fill anyone with confidence, however, with the visitors striking the post and the Gunners only managing one shot on target.

It doesn't bode well for Sunday's potential title-deciding league fixture against Manchester City, which will be played away from home. City are currently in stellar form.

A defeat to Pep Guardiola's side, who beat Arsenal 2-0 in last month's Carabao Cup final, would close the gap at the summit to just three points, striking a potentially fatal blow to their title hopes. City also have a game in hand.

Now, as Arteta spends the coming days trying to formulate a plan that will save Arsenal's season, Mirror Football brings you some of the latest stories involving the north Londoners.

Arsenal legends' demands

Thierry Henry and Ian Wright have both demanded that Arsenal find another gear ahead of the City clash this Sunday. The club’s two greatest ever strikers have been left stunned by the poor level of play they have seen in the final part of this season, believing they will lose to City and surrender their grip on the title if they don’t quickly find a solution in time for the Etihad fixture.

Wright, in particular, cut an unusually dejected figure when appearing on the Stick to Football podcast. He said: "Watching the games, it hurts. There’s a pain that’s hurting me. It’s killing me that I can’t feel it.

"I’ve put so much, invested so much into the manager, the team, the players, everything. And they’ve got to a place again and you are just seeing it falling away, you’re seeing players making mistakes. When you are at the top of the league and you have to beat teams, I’m not seeing anything.

"You’re watching the boys, you’re watching the way we play, which honestly I don’t like but I’m just taking it to get over the line. We’re in a position that we’ve been in three times before.

"Why should I say to people that come up to me, 'Don’t worry, have faith?' We haven’t played any kind of football to beat a team in a way where [I can say that]. We can’t get through the nervousness."

Henry, meanwhile, was bemused with Arsenal’s most recent display against Sporting. The Frenchman called on Arteta to show the same "fire" he recently claimed he feels by getting his team to play with energy and passion.

"I want to see that fire at the Etihad," Henry said on CBS Sports. "That's what I want to see, it's easy to talk, go there, at Man City, and deliver. I believe in what I see though, I believe in him Arteta, 'the fire', but when you talk like that you have to do it then. I didn't see that tonight.

"We are through, so happy, semi-final, I never won it, but I won the league. Go and win at Man City, I want to see that fire there, I believe Mikel, yes, but show it."

Zubimendi speaks out

Martin Zubimendi has suggested his recent drop in form has been down to an injury niggle. The Spaniard, who joined in a £51million deal from Real Sociedad last summer, has looked a shadow of his former self in recent months.

While some fans attributed that to the central midfielder’s apparent lack of confidence, he delivered a man-of-the-match display against Sporting, proving wrong those who had called on Arteta to drop him for the fixture. The 27-year-old hinted that playing injured has been the cause of his disappointing displays of late.

Zubimendi said: "It’s been tough, both for the team and for me personally. We have games every three days. When you’re injured, you have to recover quickly, and last night against Sporting is proof of that."

He also shut down rumours linking him to Real Madrid once and for all in a huge boost to Arteta ahead of the summer transfer window, despite having only arrived in north London last summer for £51million. Madrid had been very keen on bringing Zubimendi to the Bernabeu last year.

Speaking to Cadena Ser Radio, he said: "That has passed. I'm very focused and very happy where I am. It's not a bad thing [to be linked to Real Madrid]. When I decided to come here it was to live nights like this one and the ones that are to come. There's only a few weeks left and every game is going to be do or die, so I'm preparing for the next one."