Arsenal have officially announced the appointment of Mikel Arteta as the club’s new head coach. The 37-year-old has signed a three and a half year contract, keeping him at the Gunners until 2023.
Speaking to the club’s website following the announcement this afternoon, Arteta said that he wants to get the club competing at the top end of the table once again over the coming years:
“This is a huge honour. 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.”
Arteta will not be taking charge against Everton tomorrow lunchtime with Arsenal having said that the Spaniard will officially take up his position on Sunday.
Head of Football Raul Sanllehi confirmed that the club had spoken to a number of different managers about being Unai Emery’s permanent successor but they settled on Arteta as the outstanding candidate.
Arteta’s backroom team has yet to be announced, but it is expected that former Everton and Manchester United assistant manager Steve Round will be part of the coaching setup.