Following days of mounting speculation, former Rangers midfielder Mikel Arteta has been named as the new Arsenal manager [Arsenal.com].
The 37-year-old Spaniard fills the void left by the sacking of his fellow countryman Unai Emery late last month.
It ends a remarkably successful three-year spell as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City.
“This is a huge honour,” Arteta told Arsenal.com. “Arsenal is one of the biggest clubs in the world. We need to be competing for the top trophies in the game and that’s been made very clear to me in my discussions with Stan and Josh Kroenke, and the senior people from the club.”
“We all know there is a lot of work to be done to achieve that but I am confident we’ll do it. I’m realistic enough to know it won’t happen overnight but the current squad has plenty of talent and there is a great pipeline of young players coming through from the academy.”
Verdict
This is a huge first job in management for Arteta, with the Gunners currently sitting tenth in the Premier League.
Yet, he knows the club well following a five-year stint as a player between 2011 and 2016, and he’s served his apprenticeship under one of the best coaches in the game.
Given that just like Steven Gerrard’s side, Arsenal are still competing in the Europa League, there’s a chance that should the clubs progress past Braga and Olympiacos respectively, they could meet in the last 16 of the competition.
Arteta is fondly remembered by Bears for his exploits during a two-year spell between 2002 and 2004, and he’d be warmly welcomed back at Ibrox, even if in the opposition dugout.
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