Mikel Arteta has returned to pre-season training with a clear message for Arsenal: the standards have to keep rising. Two months after the victory parade through the streets of Islington, the manager was back with his squad in Spain and spoke about the mindset required as the club prepares for its first title defence in 22 years.
Arteta said he was encouraged by the energy he saw in the group after the summer break, adding that the players came back in strong condition and with the same desire to keep pushing. He said the response in training, from the way the squad worked to the questions they asked, showed the direction he wants the team to keep following.
Excellence as the baseline
The clearest message from Arteta was that Arsenal cannot treat last season as the finish line. He said the club must make excellence the standard and use that as the platform to attack the future. In his view, the challenge now is not simply to repeat success, but to prove the team belongs at this level and can move toward something even bigger.
That is especially relevant for a side entering a rare title defence. Arsenal have not been in this position for 22 years, and Arteta’s comments suggest the club wants the tone around the squad to stay demanding rather than celebratory. The manager’s wording also underlined that the work is daily: more determination, more ambition and a stronger habit of doing the little things well.
New arrivals and more to come
Arsenal’s pre-season group already includes two new signings, Illan Meslier and Christos Tzolis. Arteta said the squad is being reintegrated in stages because of World Cup schedules, and he noted that the process has been carefully planned across different groups.
He also made it clear that more could still happen before the transfer window closes. Arteta said there is a lot happening behind the scenes, with ownership, the board, the sporting director and himself aligned on taking the club to another level. He added that Arsenal have identified areas to grow, improve and evolve, and said he hopes those plans can soon be put into concrete form.
For now, Arsenal are in Spain ahead of their pre-season match against Girona at the weekend, with the focus split between fitness, integration and squad building. Arteta’s comments point to a familiar theme for a team with ambitions: the standard has been set, but the next step is making sure it holds.
