English Football
Mikel Arteta has until October to save his job at Arsenal
Mikel Arteta has until October to turn the misfortunes of Arsenal around before his sack is considered.
According to the UK Telegraph, the Spaniard has just five games left to prove his worth.
Arsenal have lost both of their opening Premier League games without scoring a goal, despite the club spending around £125million on new signings this summer.
The Gunners face Premier League champions, Manchester City this Saturday.
Head coach Arteta was confronted by a group of angry supporters, who called for him to ‘leave’, as he exited the Emirates in his car on Sunday night, having seen his team booed off at half-time and full-time against Chelsea.
The Spaniard thanked the Arsenal fans for their support immediately after the game, but some are losing patience with the absence of any consistent proof of improvement since Arteta succeeded Unai Emery in December 2019.
Arteta claimed he was without nine players after the defeat to Chelsea, with £50m new signing Ben White ruled out with Covid, and there is acknowledgment within the club that he has been working under difficult circumstances.
Arteta also promised that results and performances will improve once players start to return and his new signings find their feet, but things could get worse before they get better with a trip to champions Manchester City to come.
But, following the City game and the first international break in September, Arsenal have games against newly-promoted Norwich City, Burnley, Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton, before the Premier League breaks again in October.
A failure to demonstrate a significant improvement in those games would see Arteta fighting to save his job and would hugely increase the pressure on his position, particularly as Arsenal could spend more money before the transfer window closes.
It is understood that the Gunners would ideally like to sign a new right-back, which could be dependent on whether or not Hector Bellerin leaves, and that they have registered an interest in former Tottenham player Kieran Trippier.
Trippier is believed to favour the prospect of a return to England with Manchester United, who remain frontrunners for his signature, but that has not put Arsenal off trying – despite Atletico Madrid’s demand for the 30-year-old’s £51m release clause to be met. Neither the Gunners nor United are likely to agree to meet that request.
Should Arteta ultimately fail to turn Arsenal’s fortunes around, then the club are likely to make former Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte their first choice to replace him.
Conte is out of work after leaving Inter Milan during the summer and rejecting an approach from Tottenham to succeed Jose Mourinho.
Arsenal would need to convince Conte that he would be given the tools, and the money, with which to challenge for trophies at the Emirates and would reject any offer that he felt showed the Gunners are prepared to accept second best.
