Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has reiterated his desire to “dig for gold” this season in the Premier League and feels the club are ready to go to the next level.
The Spaniard is entering his fifth full season in north London and is looking to end Arsenal’s 22-year wait for a top-flight title – after runners-up finishes in each of the last three years.
The Gunners, who host Leeds on Saturday live on Sky Sports, have lost out in three successive title races – twice to Man City and once to Liverpool last season – but started this campaign on a winning note with a gritty 1-0 win at Manchester United.
Speaking to Sky Sports News’ Gary Cotterill, Arteta said: “We have found a lot of gold in the last few seasons with a lot of the things that we’ve done.
“Don’t forget that. We haven’t won the big prize, but we got a lot of prizes in that journey, working all together here to bring the club where it is. Starting to play in competitions that for seven, eight years that weren’t part of this football club.
“So we haven’t won the big one, but we continue to dig.”
When asked if finishing second in the Premier League and making the Champions League semi-finals is like finding gold, he replied: “It is, but we want much more. That’s the ambition.”
In the last three seasons, no team has picked up more Premier League points than the Gunners – with Arteta frequently saying the only thing left for Arsenal to do is to win a trophy.
He added: “I think we are showing what we want, is to go to the next level, to go to the next step, show the right level of ambition. We want to improve in every department, we want to improve the squad, we want to improve facilities, we want to improve our way of playing.
“Everything that we can be better at, we’re going to do it. And I think the ownership, they’ve been incredible the last year since I arrived here, to show that ambition, to push the boat forward and to all together try to win many trophies.”
Arsenal have been busy in the market with six new signings totalling £200m in transfer fees with Martin Zubimendi, Viktor Gyokeres and Noni Madueke all secured, with Eberechi Eze also waiting in the wings in a deal from Crystal Palace.
The squad is now packed with depth in every position but does Arteta think he has got too many players?
“No, I don’t think so,” he said.
“I think we have done what we have to do. I think we need to understand the background of certain players, the history of the players instead of availability, which has been a massive issue because we are bringing four or five players in last season with long-term injuries and we have to see.
“How the squad looks on August 22 is not important. It’s September, October, November, February, March and especially April and May – we have learned that over the last few years and that’s where we want to come on really strong with everybody at it and fit. You want to compete in every competition and you want to have quality available in every competition and, of course, also you need to stay as much as you can injury-free.”
From this season, Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage will increase from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live.
And 80 per cent of all televised Premier League games this season will be on Sky Sports.
