Mikel Arteta marked his 300th game in charge of Arsenal with a 2-0 triumph over West Ham United, giving the Spaniard and the Gooners plenty of reasons to celebrate at the Emirates Stadium.
Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka found the net to hand Arsenal a 2-0 win, with Saka’s composed penalty marking his 100th Premier League goal contribution in Arsenal colors, a perfect night for the Gooners in N5.
Mikel’s reign with Arsenal began in December 2019 at Bournemouth, and following another strong home win, the Spaniard reflected with pride on both the team’s display and the incredible six-year journey he’s experienced alongside the Gooners.
“I’m very happy, 300 games for this club,” he said. “A huge amount of gratitude to everybody that has been around in this journey, beautiful journey. Today we wanted to celebrate with a victory, and we certainly have done it. Now we have the international break, and I think we are in a very good position in every competition.”
Bukayo Saka, who played in Mikel’s debut game as manager and was in the lineup again today, marked his 200th Premier League appearance for Arsenal in style, taking over the captain’s armband after Martin Ødegaard’s first-half substitution.
Looking back on his time with Bukayo, Arteta shared: “Just a joy to witness his evolution as a player, the way he has matured, where he is in his personal life as well, how his role has evolved within the team, within the club as well, and the national team.
“I think it’s tremendous what he’s doing, to hit the numbers that he’s hitting at his age and the impact that he has in the team. It’s something very, very privileged to witness and hopefully many more to come.”
Martin Zubimendi’s early days in N5 have been outstanding, with the midfielder earning back-to-back Player of the Month nominations, prompting Mikel to commend the Arsenal playmaker for his brilliant form.
“Super because it’s very difficult, and the holding midfielder is one of the most difficult positions to play in this league.”
“We knew that he had the quality, but to do that, to fulfill the role immediately in a big club like this one, surrounded by players with the opposition that you face every week, is very difficult to do and I think he’s going in the right trajectory and helping the team a lot.”
Arsenal has begun the 2025/26 campaign in fine form, winning eight of their opening ten matches and registering seven clean sheets, success Mikel attributes to the team’s hard work and commitment during training sessions.
He continued: “It requires a lot of focus, a lot of determination, and a lot of discipline, and we have that with every member of the team; that’s the good thing. It’s not only about the back line or David, it’s our habits and how much we are willing to defend, and obviously how dominant we are with the ball as well, to spend as little time as possible defending our box. So, overall, very happy.”
