Gabby Agbonlahor believes Arsenal can become Champions League contenders under Mikel Arteta and “even if he doesn’t win the league this season, he’ll want to do it next season.”
Arsenal’s rise under Arteta has been a steep one. By the end of his first two seasons in charge of the club, he’d managed two eighth-placed finishes.
However, the foundations were in place and the next season was a big step up, despite only finishing fifth. From there last season, to now, there’s been a huge jump.
Indeed, the Gunners are top of the Premier League going into the final stretch, and have held onto that position for much of the season.
They’ll almost certainly finish in the Champions League places from this point, even if they don’t win the league.
While recent reports have suggested Arteta is being monitored for the Real Madrid job, Agbonlahor doesn’t think he’d want it, given what he’s doing with the Gunners.
“I don’t think Arsenal can be considered Champions League contenders yet. That’s a while away,” he told Football Insider.
“Real Madrid are in that bracket, every season.
“But there’s no reason why Arteta can’t make Arsenal contenders for that competition.
“The talk of him going to Madrid, I don’t see why he would want to go right now.”
Agbonlahor doesn’t think Arsenal are in any danger of losing their manager because of the hunger this title charge will have generated.
“He’s built something special. Even if he doesn’t win the league this season, he’ll want to do it next season. He’s got Champions League football to look forward to,” Agbonlahor added.
“Arsenal is his club. Dream jobs like Real Madrid, or Spain – that can wait for the future. He’s got plenty of time.”
Next season will almost certainly be the first since 2016/17 that will see Arsenal play in the Champions League. There seems to be no better manager to take them into the competition following that hiatus than Arteta.
After all, he’s one of the main reasons they are returning to Europe’s elite competition after that spell. The Gunners will hope the Spaniard can maintain their competitiveness in the league as they make their foray into the Champions League.
Indeed, if that happens, Arteta could be the catalyst for a period of dominance not dissimilar to title rivals Manchester City’s over the past few seasons.
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