Mikel Arteta on Premier League Shake-Up and Arsenal's Ambition
Mikel Arteta believes the Premier League’s managerial shake-up – led by Enzo Maresca’s arrival at Manchester City – could be exactly what drives Arsenal to new heights.
On Sunday in Cardiff, Arsenal and City meet in the Community Shield, a curtain-raiser with an edge. It will be Arteta’s first dugout duel with Maresca since the Italian stepped into Pep Guardiola’s shoes at the Etihad, a change that has helped turn this season into something of a reset across the division.
Nine Premier League clubs start the campaign under new management. That level of churn has only sharpened the sense that Arsenal, settled and seasoned under Arteta, stand as the clearest favourites to take back the title.
Arteta is having none of that talk.
Pressed on the narrative and on Maresca during his Friday press conference, the Arsenal manager repeatedly widened the lens, pointing to a new wave of elite coaches landing in England – including Basque compatriot Xabi Alonso and Tottenham boss Roberto De Zerbi, whom he has still not faced since the Italian took over in north London last March.
“Well, the competition will be with a number of managers too, alongside Maresca, and with some of the new managers who have joined the league, who are exceptional too,” Arteta said, underlining the scale of the challenge that awaits every weekend.
“We know this league has a lot of great managers. It is extremely difficult every week to prepare for matches against them. This will raise our level and my level for certain, and we will try to be better.”
That last line is the one that lingers. Arteta sees the quality in the opposite dugout not as a threat, but as fuel.
He broke the league down club by club, strength by strength. “Every club has its strengths. Some clubs because of the many victories they have achieved over the past ten years, some because of their squads, and some because of the money they have spent.”
Arsenal, he argued, have built something different: a body of work.
“We know our strengths, and they are linked to what we have delivered over the past four or five years in a very consistent manner, but we can also be better, and that is what we are focusing on to maintain this consistency.”
Arteta has often spoken about “stability” as a cornerstone of Arsenal’s rise. This time, he pushed the idea further.
“I have called the matter stability, but I do not want to be stable, I want to be better and more ambitious. That is what we want.”
Team news will test that ambition straight away. Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka, both coming off a gruelling World Cup and a demanding 2025-26 campaign, are not yet guaranteed starters in Cardiff. Arteta will make a late decision on the England pair after checking their physical condition following their return to training this week.
If they are held back, attention will swing quickly to the club’s summer recruits.
Bruno Guimaraes and Christos Tzolis are in line for their first competitive appearances in an Arsenal shirt. Their debut could hardly come in a softer landing: City, even in transition, beat Arsenal twice in three meetings last season, including the League Cup final at Wembley.
The question now is what City look like without Guardiola on the touchline – and whether they still stand as Arsenal’s primary obstacle.
Asked if City remain the main rivals for the title, Arteta pushed the conversation back out to the wider pack.
“We will have a lot of competitors,” he said. “When looking at the squads, the managers, and the clubs they belong to, but we know that.”
So the message is clear: respect everyone, fear no one.
“We need to focus on ourselves and make sure we get the maximum out of all the resources we have, to give ourselves the best possible chance. And after that, day by day, it will be a very long journey.”
That journey starts in Cardiff, against the club that has defined the standard. Now we find out whether Arsenal are ready to set it.
