Mikel Arteta makes awkward wife-swapping joke as he reveals White and Zinchenko are friends again after bust-up

MIKEL ARTETA had reporters in stitches after making an awkward joke about Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

The two Arsenal stars had to be physically forced apart following a furious bust-up after their 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest.

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Mikel Arteta made an awkward joke about Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko sharing wives[/caption]

TNT Sports

White and Zinchenko had to be separated following the Nottingham Forest win[/caption]

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It is understood the pair clashed over the late goal Arsenal conceded to Taiwo Awoniyi when he found the net in the 89th minute after Zinchenko was beaten in the air in the build up to the goal.

But speaking in his press conference ahead of Arsenal’s Sunday clash against Liverpool, Arteta said the pair were back on good terms.

In fact, he joked that the terms were so good that they had been sharing each others wives.

He said: “They’ve been in the same house for the last three days sharing wives and everything.

“That’s fine. They’re living together now they are best mates.”

The comment seemed to catch the reporters in attendance off guard and had a number of them laughing.

Arteta had told TNT Sports following the game that he wanted to “encourage and promote” his players feeling of not being happy conceding “in the right and respectful way”.

After a sticky patch of form around Christmas and New Year, Arsenal have finally found their feet again with back-to-back Premier League wins.

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Arsenal firstly thrashed Crystal Palace 5-0 following the winter break before their nervy 2-1 win over Forest.

They tasted defeat to Liverpool in the FA Cup third round in January but drew with the Reds in the reverse Premier League fixture.