Mikel Arteta says he began to visualise Arsenal winning the Premier League as early as March, a fortnightly conviction that helped end the club’s 22-year wait for the trophy.
Confirmed champions when Manchester City drew with Bournemouth, Arsenal celebrated wildly — first at their training ground, then in central London — with players, staff and thousands of fans gathering outside the Emirates. Arteta appeared on Sky Sports News with actor and Arsenal supporter Tom Hiddleston ahead of the club’s final league game and explained how the image of success took hold late in the campaign.
“I imagined winning it many times,” Arteta said. “This time, especially, there was something. I’ve done a lot of visualisation over the last few months. I could close my eyes and I could get to that picture immediately, and that was different to the other seasons… Not from the beginning of the season, it was more around March, April when I started that.”
Asked what he pictured, he was plain: “It was a picture of myself lifting the trophy. That was it. I think I had to believe in myself to be able to transmit that conviction and energy to the team.”
Arteta also credited a recent Sky Sports News speech by Hiddleston — which referenced Billie Jean King’s line that pressure is a privilege — as a motivating message he passed on to his squad during the run-in. “It’s beautiful what you said, in the manner that you articulated it,” Arteta told Hiddleston. “You said it in such a powerful way that it was so easy to put it into words and explain it to the boys.”
Players and staff marked the achievement together at the training ground before taking the celebrations into London; early-morning scenes outside the Emirates included glimpses of Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber and Eberechi Eze. Arteta described the moment as beyond anything he’d imagined: “I could never expect such a joy and togetherness… It was magical to witness that.”
With domestic glory secured, attention quickly turned to the Champions League final in Budapest against Paris Saint-Germain. Arsenal reached the final without losing any of their 14 European fixtures this season, and Arteta made clear the squad’s ambition to add continental silverware.
“This is where we are right now, and now we have to go to the next level, and the next level is going to happen in six days in Budapest, to go and win the Champions League,” he said. “Our only focus now is to achieve that goal. The energy has been incredible.”
Reflecting on lessons learned from previous near-misses, Arteta said he relishes the process of diagnosing problems and improving: “I enjoy that part as well. Why is it not happening? Trying to figure it out and dissect what is not right, find it and change it. That’s what makes you a better coach.”
He paid tribute to his backroom team — boosted by the arrival of Gabriel Heinze last summer — calling his staff among the best in the world and emphasising the importance of surrounding himself with people who open his eyes and create new possibilities. “They deserve a lot of credit,” he said.
As Arsenal bask in the title win, Arteta and his players face a quick turn-round to prepare for the biggest European match in the club’s recent history, intent on converting domestic triumph into a historic double.