On Jack Wilshere
“He had a very important scan on Thursday and that was very, very good, exceptionally good. The news we have for Jack is very positive. But we will respect the delays. Count maybe mid-February for Jack.”
On Andre Santos
“I took a gamble because I did not want to be accused of just throwing the game away and I felt that therefore you needed a solid defence. Analysing him he came later and played less games than the others, that’s why I played him.
“I wanted to be fair to the competition. I had a long hesitation before I picked him, believe me. I felt he was a bit tired in the game before, he had problems finishing the game. The way it happened to him it could have happened to anyone. It was not a kick, there was no contact, he was just on his own. He ruptured his ligament. ”
On Kieran Gibbs
“He is I think one week maximum away. He could be present at Villa or the game after. Of course, you want him back and to play. ”
On Yaya Toure
“I have known him since he was 15. We had an agreement with him to come here but the problem was that he was at Beveren and we had to wait long enough for a European passport. Therefore he was impatient and went, at the time, to Metalurh Donetsk.
“It was quite interesting because his generation played for two or three years at Beveren, like Yaya Toure, Eboue, Gervinho, for example played there as well. They didn’t have one offer for all of these players and they played in the Belgian championship in the top league.
“All of the players have made big careers, for example, Tiene plays left-back for Paris Saint-Germain. In two years there was not one offer for one player. Basically because they were young, it is always difficult to make these kinds of decisions. At the time he went to Metlurh Dontesk.
“He is a top-class player. We knew that at the time he would be a top-class player. The only problem with Yaya Toure was to fix him into a position because he can play everywhere. He can play centre-back, as a second striker, as a midfielder and for a long time we didn’t know where to play him.
“Incidentally, he played in a pre-season game at Barnet as a second striker – he was completely average on the day.”