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Ahead of marking his sixth anniversary as manager, Mikel Arteta has made it clear that his future at Arsenal is fundamentally dependent to achieving success.

The Journey So Far: The Arteta Era

Arteta was appointed on December 20th, 2019 and soon guided the team to an FA Cup victory a short time later. However, that early success stands as his lone top-tier trophy after taking over from Unai Emery.

“Yes,” the manager said upon being asked about his future past 2027. “But it’s about today. And numerous factors must occur in the next few months as well to deserve that opportunity.”

This weekend sees the landmark with a game facing Everton, the exact opponent Arsenal faced just after his role was made public.

The Current Landscape

As second-placed Manchester City taking on West Ham on Saturday afternoon, Arsenal risk losing the summit in the Premier League before their own match begins. This potential shift notwithstanding Arteta presiding over a squad that has endured more than a century of fitness issues since the start of last season.

The manager currently has 18 months to run on the contract he inked in 2024, but is acutely aware that results must come in the immediate future.

Survival in the Job

Arteta elaborated, stressing the constant necessity to justify his role. “I think a manager has to earn the right to be here tomorrow. And that is determined by how you react, how you communicate, how you enter the dressing room, the instructions you give.”

He added, expressing gratitude for the strong backing from the board and owners, while singling out the squad's dedication as paramount. “At the end, the critical component are those players... Over this half-decade, I’ve seen just players with a standard of focus, hunger for knowledge and dedicate themselves to the team.”

Latest Fitness Blow

The squad approaches the upcoming game dealing with yet another injury. Defender Ben White has been declared unavailable with a strain that is likely to sideline him for the coming weeks.

A Different Club

Even with the injury crisis and the high-stakes environment, Arteta feels the club's “focus and dialogue” are vastly different from when he first arrived.

He pointed to the squad's displays as proof they are close. “Examine the performances, all the historical marks we surpassed... We still haven’t managed to do that [win trophies]. But that indicates the standard we operate at.”

He finished by saying, “It represents a quality that the Premier League has never experienced in the past. And our ambition is to achieve greater objectives. And if we do that, I think we are on the correct trajectory to winning.”