Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta: Man City are best in team in history of Premier League

Spaniard insists Gunners should be proud to have gone 'toe-to-toe' with Pep Guardiola's side in title battle

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, right, with his Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola. PA

Mikel Arteta insists he is proud that Arsenal have been able to go “toe-to-toe” with Manchester City this season and described his former club as “best in team in the history of Premier League”.

Arsenal have topped of the table for large parts of the current campaign but have seen their lead evaporate in recent weeks as City embarked on a relentless 12-game winning streak and now need just one more victory to retain the Premier League title.

The Gunners' 3-0 home defeat by Brighton last weekend all but ended their own title dreams and they now sit four points behind Pep Guardiola's treble-chasing side, having played a game more.

The North London club head into Saturday's match at relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest knowing that victory can at least delay celebrations in Manchester for 24 hours, when City take on Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

“We have shown this season,” Arteta said when asked if Arsenal can be title contenders again next season.

“We're still there, with two games to go we can still be champions against probably the best team in Premier League history.

“For 10 months we're still there. There's two games still to go and we're not going to bottle that for sure.

“It shows the level of this league. That team [City] has the capacity to win 105 to 110 points. They haven't done that this season because of the level of the league and we've been there toe-to-toe for 10 months.”

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“What happens next season will depend on what we do, how we evolve and how we start. That prediction is very difficult to do today.

“We can't lose sight of what happened in moments where we weren't at our best or at the level required to be champions and we have to acknowledge that.

“But obviously the team, the players, the club deserve huge credit for how far we've come in the season. There are still two very important games to play.”

Arteta, who was Guardiola's assistant at City before making the step-up to manage Arsenal in December 2019, is now looking forward to playing Champions League football next season for the first time since 2017.

But the Spaniard admitted that his squad will need strengthening before it is ready to tackle European football's elite competition once again.

“At the level that we want? No. We didn't have the capacity to do that as well with the Europa League so it's part of that evolution,” he said.

“We have made a lot of good steps and strong steps in that journey and we have to continue. That never ends.

“We want to be better and the rest will be better, then the margins will be higher and we have to start to live with those standards and improve and be smarter.”

There was some good news for the Gunners with the announcement that goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale had signed a new long-term deal with the club.

British media have reported that the contract was set to run until 2026, with the option to extend by a further year.

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Arteta is confident the likes of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and William Saliba will follow.

“Delighted with the news for Aaron,” Arteta added. “He fully deserves that new contract, that extension and we want to keep our talent at the club and we want to build on that.

“The way Aaron has developed over the past two years has been exceptional, with his performances, contribution and overall adaptation to the club.

“It's great that we're continuing to build our future with our biggest talents in our young squad. We're all looking forward to enjoying many more years of Aaron the player and the person at the football club.”

As for midfielder Granit Xhaka, who is approaching the final 12 months of his current deal, Arteta revealed that talks will wait until the end of the season.

“He is an incredibly respected figure at the club,” added Arteta. “He has a great story around him with what he has achieved at the club in going through very tough moments and he is a key and very important part of us.

“Whatever happens is something we will discuss, [but] certainly not now.”