Mikel Arteta challenges Arsenal to improve and show they are the real deal again next season

Mikel Arteta is well aware of the work required to kick on this summer.

Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal to improve and show they are the real deal again next season. The Gunners ended their roller-coaster season with a 5-0 victory over Wolves on the final day. They finished only five points behind champions Manchester City.

The surprising part is Arsenal had been top of the Premier League for 248 days but they slipped in the final stage. Meanwhile, they have returned to Champions League for the first time since 2017.

Arteta was delighted to achieve their initial goal this season, he is well aware of the work required to kick on this summer.

“We wanted to bring the club back to the Champions League, that was the main target,” he said.

“That was obviously a big demand in the summer before we did certain things and before we managed to keep some of our players.

“Then the journey started and day by day, you start to have a feeling that the team is moving in the right direction and the energy and spirit is really good. Then you start to generate some belief.

“We didn’t expect to finish where we are. I think it’s the third best record in the club, with the history of the club, the most wins ever.

“It’s a lot but it’s still not enough to win it. We understand where the level is. If we want to be the real deal, we can’t be happy with what we have, and we have to be next season much better.

“I think we have some great foundations, that is true but in sport you have to prove it again.

“You have to be back in the first day of pre-season and look at each other and I don’t want to see any complacency or, ‘we’ve done really well and its OK’.

“We are going to have to be much better. It will be a challenging season but a season with plenty of opportunities and one of those opportunities is to be consistent, to do it again and be better. This is what we have to demand from each other.”

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