‘This is where we want to be’ – Arsenal feeling no pressure as Arteta revels in title fight expectation | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta celebrates Community Shield win

Mikel Arteta has revealed that his Arsenal side are not feeling the pressure of being expected to fight for the Premier League title, as “this is where we want to be”.

The Gunners came close to winning their first Premier League title since the 2003/04 Invincibles season last term. They were top of the table for the majority of the campaign, before a late slip saw Manchester City overcome them to win their third straight title.

Having improved the squad with the signings of Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber – while also nearing the snare of David Raya – Arsenal are expected to be up there yet again.

While that may breed pressure, boss Arteta feels more excited than worried, as he’s revelling in that expectation.

“I think it’s excitement. This is where we want to be. The competition for this year you see a lot of movements that they make,” he said via football.london.

New signings obviously swell the squad somewhat, giving Arteta more options, the lack of which hindered Arsenal down the stretch last season.

He highlighted the importance of making sure every player feels important no matter their role, alongside the importance of having players that want the side to do well in any scenario.

“I think you have to treat everybody with the sense that they’re important and to do that you have to play matches,” he said.

“It tells you a lot about the human being what your contribution is when you’re not playing. I want players that have the feeling that they’re happy when the team wins regardless.”

Arteta recently revealed that Gabriel Jesus would miss the beginning of the season, having had surgery to fix a knee problem. While he states his recovery is going well and he may be back in action soon, he’ll definitely miss the opener.

“It’s a bit early still. He’s doing really well since his operation. Hopefully he can start to do some stuff next week,” Arteta added.

He has a number of forward options to choose from – Kai Havertz started up top in the Community Shield – as only Jesus and Mohamed Elneny are confirmed to be out of the picture this week.

The manager is raring to get off on the right foot, and wants the fans to see a proper opening fixture in an Emirates opener.

“We love playing in front of our people. We have created an incredible atmosphere and the boys and everybody I think they can’t wait to be there tomorrow ready for the kick-off and to put on the performance that they deserve and we want to do,” he said.