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Mikel Arteta has been announced as the Head Coach of Arsenal, the club have announced on their official website. The Spaniard has taken over the reins from Freddie Ljungberg, who was appointed on an interim basis after the sacking of Unai Emery last month.
Arteta was amongst the candidates under consideration when the North London club began their search for a long-term manager to take over from Arsene Wenger in 2018 and has finally landed the job 18 months later, after parting ways with Manchester City.
As Arsenal stepped up their search for a new manager, the likes of Nuno Espirito Santo, Carlo Ancelotti and Mauricio Pochettino were reportedly being pursued by the club but the Gunners opted for their former club captain instead.
The Spaniard has put pen to paper on a three and a half year deal at the club and although there hasn't been official word as to when he'd take charge, the fact that the Gunners' pre-match press conference was postponed indicates that Arteta is set to take charge imminently.
Speaking on the wake of his unveiling, Arteta expressed his delight at returning to his former club and acknowledged the size of the task in hand.
"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.”
Arsenal are scheduled to take on Everton in the Premier League this week and Arteta is expected to assume his role on the touchline, as he looks to steer the Gunners to the Champions League spots at the end of the season.
