Mikel Arteta: Arsenal Boss Gives Cupcake to Journalists to Celebrate 41st Birthday

• Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta celebrated his 41st birthday on Sunday during the international break
• He celebrated it with journalists by distributing cupcakes ahead of his press conference
• The Gunners welcome Leeds United to the Emirates Stadium in their first game back after the international break

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta celebrated his 41st birthday on Sunday, March 26. There were not many familiar faces around to celebrate it due to the international break.

The Gunners return to action tomorrow as they welcome relegation-threatened Leeds United to the Emirates Stadium as they hope to maintain their eight points advantage over Manchester City

Arteta sat at London Conley to preview the game, and provided updates on team news, but before then celebrated his birthday with journalists present.

Arteta gives journalists birthday cake

As reported by Football Daily, the 41-year-old, who returned to manage his former club in 2019, gave out Arsenal-themed cupcakes to members of the press before he took his seat.

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The gesture was appreciated by the press and got Gunners fans beaming with excitement and boasting all over social media with chants of 'see my manager'.

Saliba ruled out of Leeds clash

The press conference may have started on a good note, but the opening words were bad news as French defender William Saliba is ruled out of the match tomorrow.

“He is progressing. He still has some discomfort in his back. We are trying to manage him in the best possible way, but unfortunately, he’s not going to be fit for his game. We are trying – he’s trying to do everything to feel better and get back into training, but not yet,” he told Arsenal's official website.

Arteta copied Guardiola's tactics

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Sports Brief reported that Mikel Arteta admitted to copying Guardiola's tactics in how he deploys Ukrainian defender Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Arteta was Pep's assistant at Manchester City for three years before he took the job at Arsenal. He signed Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus at the beginning of the season - both have been pivotal to the Gunners' title charge.

He revealed he utilises the Ukrainian as a floating full-back, a system Guardiola used with German defender Philip Lahm during his days at Bayern Munich.