Arteta faces toughest season. As Arsenal prepare for first game at Old Trafford
Ahead of Arsenals’ opener against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday. Mikel Arteta has predicted that this season will be most difficult ever.
During the ongoing transfer window, the Gunners have invested £200m in bringing in new players, but Chelsea and Liverpool appear to be the only two clubs who have spent more.
Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta claims his side have injected a lot of qualities into the team in Madueke, Martin Zubimendi, Viktor Gyokeres, and having experienced other teams, as well, investing huge, the Arsenal manager believes that 2025/26 EPL season will be the most competitive in the history of the championship.
Arteta Faces Toughest Season
The Spanish coach is entering his fifth season at Arsenal and moving to lay to rest the club’s over-two-decade wait for the English Premier League glory after finishing as runners-up in the each of the last three seasons.
Arteta faces toughest season. As Arsenal prepare for first game at Old Trafford
During this summer, the Gunners have been able to bring in six additional players to bolster their squad, spending £200m, while Liverpool and Chelsea have invested more, with Manchester City also have strengthened their quality by £150m.
“The competition in the league now is like nothing we’ve seen before,” Arteta says as he prepares his team for a trip to Old Trafford on Sunday.
“We all know that to win the Premier League you’re going to have to be absolutely excellent, the level that is going to be required is going to be something we haven’t experienced yet and we all want to win it.
Arteta Faces Toughest Season
“The level of the managers, the consistency of the squads that have been together now for years, the way they increased their potential in the squads, the understanding between players, quality they have brought, for sure it’s going to be the most difficult.”
In the last three seasons, Arsenal have ended them as runners-up─twice losing to Man City and once to Liverpool last season.
However, Arsenal have something positive to hope for as in last three seasons, no team have racked up more points than the Gunners, with Arteta now claiming that the only thing his team is yet to do is to win trophies.
“I think you have to use it,” Arteta ruing the disappointment of the last three years.
“We need more points, that’s clear. We have more points than any other team in the Premier League in the last three seasons and we haven’t won the Premier League. But that means we’ve done so many things right.
Arteta Faces Toughest Season
“We missed a few points in one of the seasons, and that’s what we’re going to try to do to be better.”
‘Gyokeres Is Very, Very Important’
During the Emirates Cup final match between Arsenal and Atletico Bilbao, Viktor Gyokeres showed his masterclass as his got off mark.
After a busy summer transfer window and arrival of a key player in Viktor Gyokeres, Arsenal will be boosted upfront and end the incessant call for a proper striker.
Gyokeres arrived from Sporting CP of Portugal in £63.5m deal during this summer and will be wearing the iconic number 14 shirt worn by Arsenal’s legend and topscorer Thierry Henry.
“That’s the recruitment process, that’s one of the things I was most interested in,” says Arteta when asked about Gyokeres’ choice of shirt number.
“We need to bring a player that can put that shirt on day one, walk into the dressing room and everybody says ‘He’s got it’. Viktor has definitely got that.
Arteta Faces Toughest Season
“He’s got that charisma, he’s got that personality and he’s a really confident boy. We’ve seen in the first few weeks already the way he’s acting, the way he behaves on the pitch. Everything is natural for him.
“When you look at his goalscoring record, we haven’t had a player that has scored that many goals in the last two seasons.
“That killer instinct, that ability, that intuition inside the box to get the ball and put it in the back of the net is something very, very special.
“The level of threat he provides and fear in the opposition as well. That’s something that’s going to benefit the players around him.
“He gives us flexibility to attack in a different way, to threaten the opposition in a different way. Every time new blood comes in, something shakes and a new energy appears.”
Ahead of their opening game at Manchester United, Arteta faces a tight decision to make whether to start Gyokeres or Havertz as striker.
The two players have both scored in in Arsenal’s final pre_season game against Athletic Club, but Arteta claims both players could feature alongside each other through season.
Arteta Faces Toughest Season
When asked if the players can play together, Arteta answered: “Yes, they can play together.
“One of the biggest qualities of Kai especially is that he can play in various positions. He’s done that with us, he’s done that at the highest level.
“Now we have options; on the right we have options, on the left we have options. That variety and that competition internally for places, the capacity to impact the game when we need to as well is going to be a different level of threat.”
On the other hand, Arsenal skipper Martin Odegaard claims the arrival of Viktor Gyokeres might create more spaces for the club’s other attacking players on the pitch.
“It’s always different and you have to adapt,” says the Norwegian.
“It’s the same with Viktor now; he has different qualities and you have to make sure you get the best out of each and every player.
Arteta Faces Toughest Season
“He’s a big boy and he’s going to get a lot of attention and there’s going to be a lot of talk about him, so maybe it leaves more space for the rest of us.
“I think we just have to use each quality of each player in the best possible way. That’s how I see it.”
