Mikel Arteta admits Arsenal have undertaken an ‘incredible’ rebuild since he replaced Unai Emery that has exceeded what he had ‘wished or hoped’ for, via quotes by football.london.
The Gunners hired their former captain on December 20, 2019, after a month-long search to find Emery’s successor. The north Londoners fired the 50-year-old – who took over from Arsene Wenger – after 18-months in the job following a run of seven games without a win.
Arteta has overseen 108 matches at the Emirates Stadium helm, with 61 wins to 29 losses and 18 draws. Arsenal have also scored 192 goals under their 39-year-old first-time coach.
Arsenal have moved on considerably from the side Emery helped build and started Arteta’s first game. Mesut Ozil, David Luiz and Sokratis opened their 1-1 draw at Bournemouth on Boxing Day 2019, with Emiliano Martinez, Shkodran Mustafi and Joe Willock on the bench.
Reiss Nelson and Lucas Torreira also started at Dean Court, with Kostas Mavropanos and Matteo Guendouzi substitutes. They are now on loan and the latter three may not return.
Arteta: Arsenal turnover in transfer market ‘incredible’
Altogether, Arsenal have moved on nine players and signed 13 over four transfer windows since hiring Arteta to replace Emery. Seven are also away from north London on loan deals.
The Gunners have spent heavily to support Arteta’s vision alongside Technical Director Edu. They paid Atletico Madrid £45m for Thomas Partey, £50m to Brighton for Benjamin White, Real Madrid £34m for Martin Odegaard and £24m to Sheffield United for Aaron Ramsdale.
Arteta admits the number of changes Arsenal made in such a short amount of time is more than he expected. But the Spaniard adds there remains work to be done at the Emirates.
“It’s been an incredible amount of turnaround in players in the last two seasons,” Arteta said. “Much more than we wished or hoped for, but it is what it is.
“We try to make all the right decisions. Sometimes right, sometimes wrong and we’ll continue to do that in the best interests of the club and to get a better team, better performances and better results.”
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