Arsenal have made the much
awaited announcement, confirming former Gunner and Manchester City former
assistant coach, Mikel Arteta as head coach on a three and half year-contract.
The club made the announcement on
their website Friday afternoon, along with Arteta’s stats as an Arsenal player.
He takes over from interim coach, Freddie Ljungberg from Sunday, after the
Arsenal match against Everton on Saturday afternoon.
“We’re delighted to announce
Mikel Arteta is joining the club as our head coach on Sunday”, Arsenal said.
Mikel, former Arsenal captain,
played for the club for five seasons from 2011 to 2016. As a player, he made
150 appearances, scored 16 goals, won 2 FA Cups and had a passing accuracy of
91.5%.
Mikel said: “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.”
Mikel’s coaching team will be
announced as soon as possible.
Josh Kroenke, speaking on behalf
of the Arsenal board and our owners Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, said:
“We’re delighted to be bringing Mikel back to Arsenal. He knows our
expectations and those of our fans around the world are high and we are
confident he can play a lead role in taking the club back to the levels we all
demand.
“I also want to thank Freddie
Ljungberg for skilfully guiding us through the last three weeks. He stepped up
at short notice and has helped us through this difficult period with great
professionalism.”
Head of football Raul Sanllehi
said: “We met several top-class candidates and Mikel stood out to every single
one of us as the perfect person for us. Mikel understands Arsenal Football Club
and what it means to our fans around the world. We look forward to him getting
down to work and bringing the best out of our squad as we work to get our
season back on track.
“I must also pay tribute to
Freddie Ljungberg for his hard work and leadership. Together with Per
Mertesacker, he has done a vital job for us in difficult circumstances. Freddie
and Per are important parts of the Arsenal family and care deeply for this
club.
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