Arsenal appoints Mikel Arteta as new head coach on a 3.5-year deal

Arsenal has announced that former player and captain Mikel Arteta will be the club’s new head coach. Arteta will succeed Unai Emery, who was sacked by the club in November. The Spaniard played for Arsenal for five years before retiring as a player and joining Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff in the summer of 2016. Arteta has been Guardiola’s assistant coach and during his time at Manchester City, he has helped the club win two successive Premier League titles, two Carabao Cup and the FA Cup.

The 37-year old was heavily linked to the job since Emery’s departure and was close to taking over after legendary manager Arsene Wenger left the club in 2018. Arteta is known for his ability to connect to the players on a personal level and demands a committed performance from the squad in general. Arteta won two FA Cups during his time at Arsenal and was well respected by his teammates.

'He has a passion, like Spanish people do, for the game'

He has been regularly endorsed by his seniors in the game to coach a football team. In an interview with Arsenal.com in May 2016, Wenger had highlighted why Arteta would be a good coach. Wenger had said, “First of all he was the captain of the team, so he has leadership qualities. He is a winner and he is focused every day to do well. He has an impact on his partners. That is a little bit difficult to explain sometimes, but I believe he is highly focused on football. He has a passion, like Spanish people do, for the game.”

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In November, Guardiola had touted his managerial qualities as well. In a press conference, he had said, “He was an incredible player. The holding midfielder has a vision of what happens on the pitch. But I think that the holding midfielder is an incredible lesson during your period as a football player. You don't need to go to school. More than that he is an incredible human being and works a lot. I said after a few months together he would be a manager. He is already a manager - he behaves like a manager."

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This is Arteta’s first job as a full-time head coach of a team and he is the latest entrant in a growing pool of former players taking over as managers/coaches of football clubs after Steven Gerrard joined Rangers, Frank Lampard joined Chelsea, Thierry Henry joined Montreal Impact and Patrick Vieira joined Nice in recent years.

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