Former Aston Villa chief executive Keith Wyness believes Arsenal will face complaints from within after the club confirmed up to 60 job losses a week on from announcing Mikel Arteta's contract extension, calling the sequence of announcements "a bad look". Wyness made the comments on the Inside Track podcast, and they were reported by both football.london and Mirror Football.

'A bad look'

Wyness argued the two pieces of news should have been separated, saying the timing was the problem rather than any link between them.

"It is a bad look, and I think it could have been avoided," he said. "There'll be a lot of moaning internally about the way it's done."

The former Villa executive said clubs rely heavily on their staff and that people outside the game underestimate how valuable those employees are. He added that he had expected better from Arsenal, and drew a comparison with how Manchester United had handled a similar situation, describing that as disastrous. Wyness suggested that had the announcements been two or three months apart, nobody would have connected them.

What was announced

The public announcement on 7 October revealed Arteta's new contract, valid through June 2030. According to both outlets, it includes an increase on his £10million salary along with bonuses of £5m a year.

Seven days afterward, Arsenal announced that as many as 60 positions would be cut after an outside firm conducted a review.

Gyokeres claim

The same reports carry criticism of Viktor Gyokeres from Gabriel Agbonlahor, who told talkSPORT the striker "will be one that won't be at the club next season", adding "100%" when asked about a departure before the next campaign.

In the victory over Everton, Gyokeres was in the starting XI and provided the most minimal assist on Ezri Konsa's first goal. Agbonlahor, however, said the 28-year-old looked like he was "running in slow motion" and questioned his running, while acknowledging he can hold the ball up.

He also claimed Arsenal would have moved the forward on this season if a deal involving Julian Alvarez had been possible, saying Alvarez turned the club down. Reports indicate that Gyokeres has made only one Premier League start this season.

Back to the pitch

Saturday's result lifted Arsenal to the same points total as Manchester City at the Premier League summit. After City lost 2-1 at Aston Villa earlier that day, Arsenal beat Everton 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium, with goals from Konsa and Gabriel and a clean sheet for the team.

Arteta's team now face two away fixtures this week. They travel to League Two side Fleetwood Town on Tuesday night for the fourth round of the Carabao Cup at Highbury Stadium, before a Premier League meeting with Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.

Photo: Ronnie Macdonald from Chelmsford, United Kingdom via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, resized.