Mikel Arteta reveals Arsenal board have made it ‘very clear’ they want him to compete for trophies

New Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says that it is a “huge honour” to take over at his former club, adding that the board has made it “very clear” that he is to compete for trophies now that he’s in charge.

Arteta was appointed Arsenal boss on Friday following a week full of speculation and reports that he would take over as manager at the Emirates.

The former midfielder, who played for Arsenal from 2011-16, will now step in to replace Freddie Ljungberg, who has taken charge of the team following Unai Emery’s dismissal.

Arteta joins his former club after serving as an assistant at Manchester City, where he worked closely with Pep Guardiola during a three-and-a-half year sting.

And the Spanish coach says that he’s hoping to bring trophies to Arsenal now that he’s been appointed as a manager for the first time.

“This is a huge honour. Arsenal is one of the biggest clubs in the world. We need to be competing for the top trophies in the game and that’s been made very clear to me in my discussions with Stan and Josh Kroenke, and the senior people from the club,” he said.

“We all know there is a lot of work to be done to achieve that but I am confident we’ll do it. I’m realistic enough to know it won’t happen overnight but the current squad has plenty of talent and there is a great pipeline of young players coming through from the academy.