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Arteta did not undergo medical before joining Arsenal

Arsenal were happy to sign Mikel Arteta without him completing a medical © Getty Images

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Mikel Arteta has revealed that he did not undergo a medical before completing his move from Everton to Arsenal on transfer deadline day.

The Spanish midfielder made the switch from Merseyside to north London in the final hours of the summer transfer window in August, as Arsene Wenger suddenly scrambled to find midfield replacements for the departed pair of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.

Arsenal have had a difficult time with injuries in recent seasons - with defender Thomas Vermaelen one of a number of players to spend longer than expected stretches on the sidelines - but Arteta has revealed that time was so short on deadline day that both parties were happy to forgo the medical assessments that are usually a compulsory part of any transfer.

"It was very stressful. At 6pm, they said everything had broken down. Then, at 8.30pm, everything started again," Arteta recalled. "But there wasn't time to have a medical. I went to the offices of the club [Everton] and from there I told Arsenal to trust me and that if some medical problem was found it would be my responsibility."

The 29-year-old does not have an exemplary health record, having missed nearly 12 months of action after suffering knee ligament damage in February 2009.

Fortunately, he has had no problems since moving to Emirates Stadium but has nevertheless endured something of a baptism of fire, with the club suffering notable defeats to Blackburn and Tottenham as they have remained entrenched in the bottom half of the Premier League table.

However, Arteta remains convinced that the players at the club can turn things around after the international break.

"It's obvious that the club is having a phase of one or two months of difficulties and there have been a lot of people disappointed," he said. "But we'll come out of this. We'll compete for everything. It's down to us to give the fans reasons to get back to being excited."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.