Arteta lifts lid on Luiz, Ceballos bust up

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has spoken about reports of a fight in training involving two of his charges, David Luiz and Dani Ceballos. There were reports on Thursday (November 19) that the two footballers were involved in a scuffle in the Arsenal training ground during the international break.

Luiz and Ceballos were not involved with the Brazil and Spain squads during the last international break and remained at London Colney but things reportedly got heated up between the duo.

It was claimed that the Brazilian defender had left the Spanish midfielder with a bloodied nose after a session last Friday – something which Ceballos, on social media, quickly labeled “fake”.

Asked what happened in the incident, Arteta responded: “Nothing. The training is very competitive and issues happen a lot of times, those things get resolved immediately within the team and not much to say.
“There is no problem between the two.”

However, when asked to expand on what happened, Arteta coyly also remarked: “I’ve got really bad vision from afar. That’s why we trained behind closed doors!”

Both players are expected to feature when the Gunners meet Leeds United at Elland Road on Sunday.

Arsenal will be without summer signing Thomas Partey, however. The former Atletico Madrid man was replaced at half-time in the 3-0 loss to Aston Villa before the international break with a thigh strain in his left leg. the Ghanaian is still not ready to return at Elland Road against Marcelo Bielsa’s men.
“He had an injury very early in the game, he wanted to continue the second half,” Arteta said.
“We knew it was a significant injury. He’s done very well and he’s working very hard, he wants to be available.
“Hopefully we can get him back soon but it’s an area we need to be careful and we need to be protective with the player.”

Partey will continue to be assessed by medical staff and continue his rehab, with a potential return against Molde in the Europa League next week.