Mikel Arteta’s best decisions as Arsenal manager includes difficult Saliba, Aubameyang calls
Mikel Arteta has a knack for being proven right. It is quite annoying. He is very good at doing something extremely debatable yet being vindicated in the end.
The jury is still out on his decision to sign Kai Havertz and not a proper No. 9 but this is a ranking of his ten best decisions since becoming Arsenal manager, which will include converting Mikel Merino into a centre-forward if he carries on.
10) The 2022 Manchester City raid
A large part of Arsenal’s upturn in fortunes is down to the business conducted by Arteta and sporting director Edu Gaspar in the summer of 2022. Marquinhos, Matt Turner and Fabio Vieira have turned out to be rubbish signings, but Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus were ready-made and helped the Gunners go from top-four hopefuls to title favourites in 2022/23.
Both players were at a crossroads in their respective careers. They were both 25 going into the transfer window and knew they were not first-choice players in their positions under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Joao Cancelo had just enjoyed another incredible season, keeping Zinchenko out of the starting XI, while Jesus was often used off the bench or on the wing despite being the only natural No. 9 in the first team; Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez’s arrivals would make it even more difficult for Jesus to get minutes. He had to leave and Arsenal were a solid option, especially with a former City assistant running the show at the Emirates.
No sane person thought both of these players were going to be poor signings, but not many expected them to be so successful, so fast. Jesus instantly displayed his outstanding technical ability and leadership from the front, while Zinchenko had a similarly effective start. Incredible on the ball and crucial in Arsenal’s build-up play with his ability to evade the press, the Ukraine international was an important player in his debut season but fell out of favour last term and is expected to leave the club this summer. Jesus likely would have been sold as well had he not suffered a long-term knee injury.
9) Signing David Raya
It went down like a sh*tstorm when David Raya usurped Aaron Ramsdale as Arsenal’s No. 1 but like he has with almost every difficult decision he has made, Arteta has been fully vindicated.
Ramsdale is a fine goalkeeper and being replaced as Arsenal No. 1 was extremely harsh considering his consistency since joining from Sheffield United, but Arteta saw an opportunity to improve in a crucial position in his starting XI so he did. Raya was only £30million including the loan fee, which is a very modest fee for a top-class goalkeeper.
Arsenal are better at playing out from the back with Raya, who is also more commanding of his area, less error-prone and doesn’t get distracted by pigeons.
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8) Hiring Nicolas Jover
You usually associate a reliance on set-piece goals with teams in the bottom half and while Arsenal are clearly a dangerous side from open play, their ability from deadball situations has given them a unique weapon.
The club’s remarkable improvement and transition from a soft touch to being physically imposing has been capitalised on by set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, who was poached from Manchester City in July 2021. Jover can be seen marauding the technical area whenever Declan Rice or Bukayo Saka are standing over a corner and is the man behind all of the goals that have seen the Gunners dubbed Set-Piece FC.
He might not be everyone’s cup of tea and a mural must have been made to wind up the haters but Jover is Arteta’s best coaching acquisition as a manager.
7) Getting rid of Mesut Ozil
You might not agree, but Mesut Ozil is an Arsenal legend. He joined in 2013 and instantly made the Gunners title contenders and ended their eight-year trophy drought. He is an Arsenal legend.
While the German playmaker is a club legend, he left the north London outfit on bad terms. Arteta made Ozil one of his consistent starters at the beginning of his managerial career, before he stopped relying on his former teammate. “What Mesut has done at the football club is unquestionable and that will stay,” Arteta said in January 2021, shortly before Ozil’s exit. “It doesn’t matter if he plays two more games, ten more games or none. What he has done is there for the records, for the history of the club, and his contribution I think nobody can discuss that.”
While Ozil’s exit was a controversial one amid his criticism of the Uyghur genocide in China – which the club distanced themselves from – he was becoming a bad egg in the camp, with leaks quite obviously emanating from him. Arteta had to get rid of Ozil to begin the new chapter at the Emirates, and he did just that. It felt like a dark cloud lifted following his exit.
6) Choosing Martin Odegaard over James Maddison (reportedly)
There were multiple reports that suggested Arsenal’s top midfield target in the 2021 summer transfer window was Leicester City’s James Maddison but the club ultimately ended up signing Martin Odegaard for around £30million after he spent the second half of 2020/21 on loan from Real Madrid.
That is mere speculation but there are lots of branches to this. Signing Odegaard was a masterstroke and definitely the correct decision if it was between him and Maddison – who is undoubtedly a fine player, but not on the same level as the Norway captain.
Odegaard has proven to be a bargain and the decision from Arteta to make him his captain is another brilliant call from the Spanish manager.
5) Granit Xhaka’s remontada
Rightly stripped of the captaincy by Unai Emery after telling the Emirates faithful to f**k off, Xhaka’s days as an Arsenal player looked numbered, but he became a mainstay in the team once again after Arteta was appointed in December 2019.
Xhaka always divided opinion throughout the Gunners fanbase. Much to the dismay of some supporters, Arteta convinced the Swiss midfielder to stay following his loss of the armband. Arteta said in January 2020: “I thought he could be a really, really good player for us and he could enjoy playing under me in this football club. I tried to convince him that way. He thought about it, he had a very positive response afterwards, and I think he changed his mind.”
And in 2023, Xhaka explained: “Arteta is the reason why I’m still at this football club. All of the club knows why I am still here, because three years ago I was gone. My suitcases were packed and finished, but I had a meeting with Mikel when he came… I didn’t speak with family, with nobody, and normally I don’t do that. But I said, ‘Ok, Mikel – I will stay for you.’”
Xhaka then improved a surprising amount, becoming an excellent box-to-box midfield player after struggling in a defensive midfield role under Emery and Arsene Wenger. His improvement was helped by Thomas Partey, who was able to anchor the midfield and give Xhaka the freedom to attack more. Zinchenko’s role as an inverted central midfielder helped as well. And all of those factors played a part in Gabriel Martinelli’s improvement. It was a strong left side basically.
The player obviously deserves a lot of credit for his mentality and improvement, but the fact he became such an integral part of Arteta’s Arsenal is a testament to phenomenal man management, coaching and tactical nous.
4) Insisting on signing and convincing Declan Rice
Arsenal broke their club transfer record to sign Rice from West Ham for £105million in the 2023 summer transfer window and what a decision that has turned out to be.
There was competition from Bayern Munich and Manchester City but Rice wanted to play for Arsenal and Arteta, who convinced the England star that the Emirates was the best place for him. Signing someone of Rice’s calibre would have been a pipe dream only 12 months before he joined the club, yet he was snubbing two of the biggest and best clubs in Europe for them after an incredible 2022/23 campaign inspired by Arteta.
There were reservations from the Gunners board to shell out a nine-figure sum for Rice but Arteta insisted and the deal eventually crossed the line in the middle of July.
The signing has paid off and then some. Rice has been absolutely phenomenal in the Arsenal midfield and as it goes, he is a pretty handy free-kick taker.
3) Binning off Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
We got a nice insight into the Aubameyang debacle on the Amazon: All or Nothing documentary. At the time of Aubameyang’s ostracisation under Arteta, fans didn’t really know what was going on. The Gabon hero was stripped of the captaincy in another skipper controversy after a ‘disciplinary breach’, later revealed to be a timekeeping issue and not his first. In fact, Arteta said in the documentary he had a “catalogue of misdemeanours” from the experienced striker.
The sale of Aubameyang to Barcelona was scrutinised; the overall treatment of the player also put into question Arteta’s management. A lot of the consternation came down to no replacement being signed, which was a telling contribution to Arsenal’s failure to finish in the top four in 2021/22. While this did happen, the long-term picture is a lot brighter without Aubameyang – who did well at the Nou Camp before a disastrous move to Chelsea.
Getting rid was necessary and has definitely made Arsenal more Arteta’s Arsenal.
2) Easing in Gabriel Martinelli
Arsenal fans were very frustrated by Martinelli’s lack of minutes in 2019/20 and then 2020/21, but Arteta’s treatment of the Brazilian winger was sublime. Had he played him every time a fan complained, Martinelli’s development would have been a lot different.
Martinelli used to be injury-prone, but even when fit he would often start on the bench, which annoyed supporters. After recovering from a long-term problem, minutes were hard to come by. He didn’t become a regular starter until 2021/22, scoring two minutes after coming on for Saka against Newcastle United on matchday 13; this was when the Brazilian really took his chance. He has not looked back since.
Arteta allowed Martinelli to adapt to English football and living in a different country, while letting him to overcome his injury issues. Throwing the youngster into the deep end after knee and ankle injuries would have been foolish. Watching Martinelli flourish while becoming a regular in the Brazil squad brings a smile to the face of every Arsenal fan but allows me to reminisce about the time fans were regularly crying out for him to play when he was not ready.
1) Loaning William Saliba to Marseille
Arsenal fans were full of rage and fear after Saliba was sent on loan to Marseille for the 2021/22 campaign. There was fume because many believed he could have been a starter under Arteta, while fears stemmed from the idea that the player did not have a future at Arsenal. It turns out he does have a fairly bright future and that season on loan at Marseille was extremely influential in making Saliba the player he is today.
Saliba might end up providing the clearest vindication of any Arteta decision when all is said and done. Winty had it right all that time ago. Have a read of that – after this of course.
Saliba’s integration into the team had an impact on Benjamin White’s career at the same time. White had partnered Gabriel Magalhaes at the heart of defence in 2021/22 but became Arteta’s starting right-back from 2022/23. That was another very successful call from the Spaniard.
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