Mikel Arteta has shrugged off suggestions that Arsenal will suffer without his midfield partner Alex Song following his £15m move to Barcelona.
Midfielder believes new players will take time to settle at the club
Mikel Arteta has shrugged off suggestions that Arsenal will suffer without his midfield partner Alex Song following his £15million move to Barcelona.
Song was left out of Arsenal's goalless opening game of the season at home to Sunderland to complete the deal.
The capture of the Cameroon international brought to an end his six-year stay with the north London club.
He has followed the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Thierry Henry to Spain and his move took the total money spent by the Catalan giants to Arsenal in transfer fees to £121m in the last 12 years.
And although he admits he will miss the tough-tackling 24-year-old, Arteta believes Arsenal are still in good shape this season.
Building
"I felt really comfortable when I played with Alex last year, he was a terrific player," Arteta told the
official Arsenal website.
"But if he and the club decided that the best option was for him to leave we have to accept it. I think we are good enough to carry on without him.
"I think we are looking good. We looked really organised on Saturday, just maybe in the final third we didn't take the chances we should have done.
"It will take a while because there have been some new players coming in and we are building a new team.
"We have lost some important players but we know that our new players can make the difference as well. We will have to give them a chance to settle into a new place."
