Arsenal has appointed its former player Mikel Arteta as a new manager on a three-and-a-half-year deal.
LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 20: Arsenal Head Coach Mikel Arteta at Emirates Stadium on December 20, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Arteta will replace Unai Emery, who was shown the Emirates exit door at the end of November after poor results. The Spaniard takes over with Arsenal languishing down in the 10th spot and in the next period he will try to help them to improve their performance and results.
“This is a huge honor,” Arteta told the club website.
“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 (owner) Stan (Kroenke) 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.”
Arteta spent four seasons at Arsenal between 2011 and 2016, playing 150 times for the Gunners and in that period he winning two FA Cups.
The first test for Arteta will be the game against Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday, December 21.
