Mikel Arteta should be immortalised with a statue outside the Emirates Stadium if he guides Arsenal to their “best season” by securing the Champions League trophy, according to club legend David Seaman.
The former Gunners goalkeeper believes such an achievement would warrant the ultimate recognition for the manager.
The north London club’s 22-year wait for the Premier League title ended on Tuesday night, following Manchester City’s 1-1 draw at Bournemouth. This result ignited widespread celebrations among players and staff at their training base, as well as thousands of jubilant supporters gathered at the Emirates.
The euphoria continued into the early hours, with Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze, and Jurrien Timber completing a 5am lap of the stadium, posing for selfies with disbelieving fans still revelling in Arsenal’s first league title since 2004.
While Arsenal have previously achieved the league and FA Cup double three times, and Arsene Wenger’s ‘Invincibles’ famously won the title without a single defeat, the Champions League remains an elusive prize.
Wenger is one of six figures connected to the club honoured with a bronze statue outside the ground, alongside Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Tony Adams, former manager Herbert Chapman, and club president Ken Friar.
When asked if Arteta could become the seventh if Arsenal overcome Paris St Germain in the final on 30 May, Seaman, who won nine major trophies during his 13-year career with the Gunners, told the Press Association: “If that does happen, it is going to be the best season in the club’s history, so why not? I just feel this team can get better and better.
“The club has never won the Champions League before and that would be one hell of a double. It is a big ‘if’, but it would be epic. The players who already have statues have won a lot of trophies and so did Arsene.
“And I want Mikel to win so much more. He thoroughly deserves it because of the way he took this club by the horns and led it in a new direction.”
Arsenal, who had finished as league runners-up for the previous three seasons, faced accusations of “bottling” their title bid after surrendering their top spot following a 2-1 defeat at City on 19 April.
However, while City subsequently drew at Everton and then Bournemouth, Arsenal rebounded from their Etihad loss by winning their next four matches without conceding a goal.
Arteta, who took charge in December 2019 with the club in disarray, had installed a blacked-out Premier League trophy at the London Colney training base, designed to illuminate only upon the Gunners being crowned champions.
“Light that up,” Saka declared in footage posted by teammate Timber to Instagram on Tuesday night. “Let me tell you something. Twenty-two years, 22 years, there was laughing, there was joking, they’re not laughing anymore. Look, it is going to be shining, it is going to be shining bright.”
In a separate Instagram story, Myles Lewis-Skelly, holding a champagne bottle, added: “They called us bottlers. And now we’re holding the bottle.” Eze also shared a picture of captain Martin Odegaard drinking from an Arsenal-badged bottle, a further jab at the club’s detractors.
Seaman, who watched City’s decisive draw alongside former teammates Martin Keown and Robert Pires at the Emirates, commented: “The pressure that has built up over the past few years was massive.
“I was at the Bournemouth game where Arsenal lost (on 11 April) and I saw the fans change, the players change, but now that’s all gone, they’ve done it, it is such a relief, and it will snowball from here.”
With Arteta’s current deal expiring next year, the former England goalkeeper urged swift action: “We have got to get that contract sorted as soon as possible. He is a vital part of Arsenal. He played here, he was captain here, he has managed here, and now he is a Premier League champion. He is the perfect fit.”
Arteta’s side will be presented with the Premier League trophy after their final match of the season at Crystal Palace on Sunday, before turning their attention to the Champions League final against PSG in Budapest six days later.
