"I want to be hunted, and I want to be in control of our future." That's Mikel Arteta's frame of mind heading into Arsenal's Premier League title defense — and it tells you everything about how this squad has evolved.
After three consecutive near-misses that would have broken most dressing rooms, Arsenal finally ended a 22-year wait for the title last season. Now they open the defense Friday at home to Coventry, and Arteta isn't pretending the pressure doesn't exist. He's leaning into it.
Starting from zero — deliberately
What's interesting about Arteta's messaging isn't the confidence. It's the reset. "We start from scratch, from zero, and we're going to have to prove we are at the level to go back to that position again," he said. That's not false modesty. That's a manager who watched his team lose the plot at crucial moments in three straight campaigns and knows that complacency is the real opponent in a title defense.
British oddsmakers already have Arsenal as favorites to retain. That market confidence is earned — but it also creates exactly the kind of target Arteta seems to relish. The question is whether his players carry the same hunger when they're no longer the underdogs chasing City.
Bruno Guimaraes, the summer arrival from Newcastle, is a doubt for the Coventry opener after picking up a right thigh injury during Arsenal's 3-0 Community Shield win over Manchester City on Sunday. Losing him early — before he's even had a full preseason with the squad — would be a frustrating start. His fitness between now and the first proper run of fixtures will be worth watching closely.
Lewis-Skelly isn't going anywhere
Arteta also shut down transfer speculation around 19-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly, who had been linked with a move away. Asked directly if the teenager would stay beyond this window, the answer was short: "100%."
That kind of clarity matters at the start of a season. Unsettled squads don't defend titles. Arsenal look settled — now they need to prove they've learned from the three times they were caught.
