Arsenal legend explains why Mikel Arteta will succeed due to having no summer signings

Arsenal announced Mikel Arteta as their new head coach last year and he has won eight of his first 15 games as a manager of a top flight club and everyone has backed him to succeed at the Emirates Stadium after seeing some of his ideas. Arsenal legend Paul Merson has spoken out on why Arteta could prove to be an outstanding manager in the next few months even if he doesn’t get new signings.

Mikel Arteta arrived at Arsenal in December when everything was on fire since the club’s decision to appoint Freddie Ljungberg as the interim head coach had failed to work but the Spaniard has on the hand stabilized the club as the gunners even seemed to be on a good run before the COVID-19 pandemic saw the Premier League get to an abrupt stop.

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen many clubs around the world lose a lot of revenue since most leagues got cancelled while some will continue behind closed doors hence causing the loss of the matchday revenue. It is expected that most clubs will not have enough funds to make new signings in the summer and Arsenal legend Paul Merson believes that Arteta could show how he is up for the job by making his current squad perform at a higher level. Merson also claims that the current situation of football will make Arsenal not have the same expectations as before hence Arteta working while under less pressure.

“I think this situation helps someone like Mikel Arteta. Arsenal need such an overhaul of players that it’s actually almost impossible to get that many players in. There’s now an opportunity for him to work with the current crop, and I think it actually takes the pressure off of Arteta, and now anything is a bonus.” Paul Merson told Sky Sports.

“Arsenal’s expectations will be nowhere near as high as they were a few months ago. I think he’ll now be given loads and loads of time to build. He’s young, he’s enthusiastic, and he’ll want to work with younger players.”

“He’s not a Mourinho or Pep Guardiola, who I’d call your Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroys, they’re just dealing in majors, nothing else! Arteta is the type who might work from the ground up with lesser players.”