Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has reiterated that he has no plans to leave the club amid recent rumors that he would leave the Emirates at the end of the season.
The rumor came to light after Xavi Hernandez announced that he will step down from his role as Barcelona manager on the 30th of June, amid a poor run of form with the Catalan club.
Given that Arteta is also a Spaniard and grew through the ranks at Barcelona, outlets were quick to claim that he had already been chosen to replace Xavi, with the switch happening as early as this summer.
However, the Gunners boss, who has transformed the north London side to title challengers from mere top-four hopefuls, has now poured cold water on those rumors, saying he is happy where he is.
Arteta happy at Arsenal, dismisses fake news
“That’s totally fake news”, he told the media at his pre-Nottingham Forest press conference on Monday. “What you read yesterday, I don’t know where it’s coming from. It’s totally untrue and I’m really upset about it.”
“I don’t know where it’s coming from, it’s got no sources, it’s got nothing and I think we have to be very cautious when we talk about personal things, to put it in the way that it was put yesterday.”
“I’m in the right place. I’m with the right people, I feel really good about it and, as I said many times, I’m immersed in a beautiful journey with this football club, these players, this staff and our people and I’m investing still a lot for them.”
Asked about his contract, Arteta seemed rather calm and added that he would resolve it when the time is right.
“I’ve got a strong relationship with the board, with Edu, the team, with ownership”, he explained. “Things come in a natural way and we’ve always done it that way and it’s been done really well. When the time is right we’ll have those discussions and I’ll think about the best way to do that.”
Arteta also spoke on Jurgen Klopp, who will leave Liverpool at the end of the season, saying that the Reds’ boss made the Premier League much better.
“I think he’s made this league much better”, he said. “First of all the person, the character, the charisma, the way of transmitting his ideas and passion for the game is something special.”
“He’s had a big contribution for the growth of this league and I love the way he did it. The emotion that he put in and when you see the human side explaining the reasons behind it and the challenges and everything that is related to our job, I think it was spot on.”
