🚨Bruno Guimarães on what Declan Rice told him at full-time against Aston Villa.
🎙️ Reporter: Bruno, we saw you and Declan Rice having a conversation at full-time. He appeared to say something to you. What was that about?
🗣️ Bruno Guimarães: Yeah, Declan was just talking to me about the game. He said it was a tough battle and that we had to be proud of how we fought until the final whistle.
Then he looked at me and said, “This is exactly why I wanted you here.” Honestly, that meant a lot.
We’re both very competitive. We want to win, we want to push each other and we want to make Arsenal better. Declan is an incredible player and playing alongside him makes things easier because we see the game in a very similar way.
We’ve only just started playing together, but I already feel like there’s a really strong understanding between us. We talk constantly during games, we help each other and we demand a lot from each other.
I think this partnership can become something very special for Arsenal.
Gabriel Arteta, Mikel’s first son has heterochromia (two different-coloured eyes). Only 0.1–0.2% of the world’s population has it.
Another interesting fact is that the chance of being a professional footballer who has heterochromia is between 0.00000155% and 0.00000310%.
A rare gem. 💎
Fela is not The Originator Of Afrobeat. Maybe to people in Lagos and the Yorubas but I’m from the East — Singer Tekno
Nigerian singer Tekno has weighed in on the history of Afrobeat and Fela Kuti’s position as one of the genre’s most influential figures, arguing that the story goes beyond one person.
Speaking during an interview on HOT 97, Tekno acknowledged Fela’s impact while pointing to other Nigerian music legends who influenced the sound. Responding to a question about Fela being the father or creator of the Afrobeat sound he said;
“I don’t know, to be honest. There are legends like Oliver De Coque that made pure highlife music, and highlife is also Afrobeat. So I would say for the people in Lagos and Yorubas, a record of mine that is ‘Rara’ is heavily inspired by Fela because I heard his tune and he is a legend. He stamped the Afrobeat thing on the world map.”
“But there are other people that we listen to from the East, because I am from the East, and we had legends that sang some type of music that if you heard today, you wouldn’t even believe that this music was made in those times. I feel like they don’t know these guys or maybe they didn’t come across them.”
Tekno said his appreciation for these older musicians began at home, revealing that his father played their records while he was growing up.
“I would say I was more inspired by Oliver De Coque because my dad used to play his records. There were so many artists that nobody knows about, and Fela gets the credit because he kind of travelled and had the band and went around the world.”
“For some people, he is the originator of the Afrobeat thing, but to me, there is still a bunch of them and a lot of legends no one speaks about.”
🎙️Viktor Gyokeres on rumours that Arsenal will include him in a deal to sign Julian Álvarez:
🗣️ “For me, Mikel hasn’t spoken to me about that. When I came here, Mikel Arteta spoke to me for 4 hours on a call and explained my role in this squad.
For sure, I haven’t heard about it, but if the club and the coach that wanted me decide that they no longer need me, I will always appreciate the opportunity the club gave me to represent this football club.
I’m happy for the trophy we gave the fans after 22 years of waiting. That will always be in my heart.”