Mikel Arteta makes ‘crucial’ transfer demand to Arsenal board ahead of summer

Mikel Arteta has told the Arsenal board it is “crucial” they get it right this summer if the club are to build on their title challenge this season. Failure to beat Nottingham Forest will see Manchester City crowned as champions – otherwise Pep Guardiola’s side can secure the honours by beating Chelsea.

But Arteta feels his squad is too small to compete again next season with Champions League football to navigate and the board simply has to make the right signings. “We cannot compete in the league and Champions League at the level that we want to, no,” Arteta said.

“We didn’t have the capacity to do that as well with the Europa League so it’s part of that evolution. This summer is crucial, I would say. To go to the next level is going to be a crucial summer for us.

“First of all to make sure that we maintain everything that we have at the club right now – the expectations, the enthusiasm and the energy. It’s not only about signing players. It’s about resources and staff and improving certain things that can be done better or more efficiently or smarter.”

Arteta revealed he had 122 messages of support after Arsenal’s Premier League chase effectively ended with the 3-0 defeat to Brighton – but said: “Sometimes you just go in bed and just hide under the covers for 12 hours and don’t speak to anybody. Sometimes you need your wife and kids around you, your family, your dog.”

It has a restorative effect he holds so highly he has even gone to the lengths of getting a dog for his Arsenal family. A year-old chocolate labrador named Win has the freedom of the club’s training ground and has been adopted as the club’s unofficial mascot.

“I feel we are a family and you need a dog to represent that family,” Arteta explained. “You come into the building and comes up and gives all the love and suddenly you just feel the energy. Players are on the floor just hugging her, it is just beautiful to watch.”

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If Win embodies the family spirit at Arsenal, a 150-year-old olive tree growing outside Arteta’s office is so evocative of the club’s strength that the Arsenal manager has got a small replica potted up to take into team meetings.

“It is an olive tree that is a similar age to the club,” he said. “We have to look after those roots every single day, make sure they don’t get poisoned and they don’t get damaged and remain in the right condition.”

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