- Says he must ‘change the energy in the club’
New Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta revealed he ‘feels back home’ after accepting his first managerial role at his former club, and stressed the importance of changing the ‘energy’ at the Emirates.
The 37-year-old was officially unveiled as Unai Emery’s successor on Friday, and has penned a three-and-a-half year deal after opting to leave Manchester City.
Arteta admitted to a lack of experience, but revealed he had been preparing to make the step up into the hot seat for a number of years and plans to embrace the challenge.
In his first press conference, he said: ‘I feel back home. I feel extremely proud and happy to be the manager of this football club.
‘I have been preparing for a few years for this day to come.
‘I’m ready for that day to come, I can’t wait to start working with the players and everyone at the club.’
The ex-midfielder made his first foray into management after his appointment was rubber stamped by Gunners director Josh Kroenke, and negotiations concerning the role and a £2million compensation package were finalised this week.
Pep Guardiola’s former assistant had expressed interest in replacing Emery at the North London outfit last month, and club chiefs Vinai Venkatesham and Huss Fahmy held lengthy talks with Arteta at his Manchester home on Monday morning.
Arteta added: ‘I have so much respect for this football club that if I didn’t feel prepared and ready I wouldn’t be sat in this chair.
‘This first task will be to change the energy here.
‘I need to convince the players of what I want to do. I want to get everybody with the same mindset, we need to build the right culture that sustains the rest.
‘If you are going to be part of this organisation it will be in these terms, in this way.
‘There are things you do have or you don’t have. The experience bit, I can’t touch it, it is against me. When I was a player I was the oldest and now I’m the youngest. I know I have to adapt to the job. I have good people around me and I will do my best.’
Arteta also shed light on his emotional farewell shared with City’s players and support staff on Thursday and paid tribute to Guardiola.
‘The relationship with him is incredibly good, obviously he is sad and the timing wasn’t the best for him but he understood,’ Arteta said. ‘He knows how I have been growing and the needs I had emotionally and the ambitions I had.
‘He kept giving me more and more. I could not explain what a nice person he is and what a person he is.
‘He knew I was suffering because I was leaving him in a moment when they needed me a little as well.
‘The relationship we could not have left any better. I said goodbye to the players and I cried.’
The reigning champions are believed to have been left shocked by the timing of Arsenal’s official announcement, however.
City had expected some communication from Arsenal as to when they planned to make their statement on social media, and hadn’t expected the news to be announced so soon.
The club are even believed to have originally seen Arteta’s unveiling after switching on a television at the end of Guardiola’s press conference.
Arsenal confirmed in a statement that Arteta’s coaching staff would be finalised shortly, although interim manager Freddie Ljungberg’s future remains unclear.
The Swede was expected to be in charge for the Gunners’ clash against Everton on Saturday, with Arteta watching on, although this could change