“A big problem” – Mikel Arteta fires warning to Arsenal players with “really bad approach”

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has fired a clear warning to any of his players thinking about the World Cup next summer over the good of their club.

Speaking at his press conference on Friday, Arteta was asked by reporters about the situation of players like Ethan Nwaneri and Gabriel Jesus, who aren’t necessarily getting as many minutes as they might want.

Nwaneri might have an outside chance of making it into the England squad for next summer’s tournament, but he’s currently struggling to get much first-team action with Arsenal, starting only three games so far this season, with none of those coming in the Premier League.

See the video below, however, as Arteta brushed off questions about Nwaneri and Jesus by insisting it would be a “really bad approach” for any of his players to be looking ahead to the World Cup now…

? Mikel Arteta warns Arsenal players that if their priority is the World Cup then “we’re going to have a BIG problem” ?? pic.twitter.com/LUGCMFn2O8

— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) December 12, 2025

When asked at first about Nwaneri’s role in the team, Arteta defended his record of giving the 18-year-old a lot of chances at such an early stage in his career.

He said: “Probably looking at where he is, 18 years old, 50 appearances for the club.

“I want to see how many examples there are in English football with that number at that age.”

When asked about players like Nwaneri and Jesus and the World Cup, Arteta made it very clear it would be a big problem for him if anyone in his squad put that competition ahead of the rest of the season for Arsenal now.

He added: “That’s a really bad approach, in my opinion. The approach has to be to be in the team as much as possible, and the rest is a consequence.

“If somebody is going to prioritise something for the World Cup, then I think we have a big problem.”

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