Five-time Premier League champion Wayne Rooney claimed that there would likely be “a change of manager” at Arsenal if Mikel Arteta fails to win this year’s title.
The Gunners have finished second under the Spaniard’s watch in each of the previous three seasons. The 2020 FA Cup secured inside the opening seven months of his tenure remains the only trophy Arteta has won while at the Arsenal helm, yet the start to the current Premier League campaign bodes well.
Arsenal lead the league after nine games and, crucially, have opened up a seven-point gap over reigning champions Liverpool who continue to splutter through their title defence. Serial winners Manchester City are six points adrift while Bournemouth (four points back), Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland (both five) make up Arsenal’s closest challengers.
This surge up the table—which ignores some of the subtleties around the team’s continued struggles to create open-play chances—has prompted many to begin chiselling a capital “A” on the Premier League trophy.
“The squad is good enough now and I think they’ve had the experiences which have got them close, but I think they’re ready for it,” Rooney mused on his self-titled podcast following Sunday’s victory over Crystal Palace.
Yet, the favourites tag comes with its own pressure. “If they don’t win it now, you’d probably see a change of manager,” Rooney predicted.
Arteta currently has an Arsenal contract which stretches to 2027. There has not been a whisper from those inside the club that the former captain has any intention of leaving north London before then. In stark contrast, Arteta was instrumental in the process behind extending the contracts of Gabriel and William Saliba until the summer of 2030 presumably under the assumption that he will remain at the club himself.
