Arsenal has announced the change of job title for Mikel Arteta from head coach to first-team manager ahead of the 2020/2021 Premier League kick off.
Arenal management sacked Unai Emery following a poor run of results and appointed Freddie Ljunberg as interim manager before they hired Arteta.
The Spaniard who had been assistant with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City went in to win the FA Cup defeating his Guadiolas Manchester City before an emphatic 2-1 win against Chelsea in the final at Wembley.
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The club Chief Executive Vinai Venkatesham said the decision for the change of job description was due to Artetas desire to keep driving the club forward despite the challenges they have faced.
“Mikel’s been here since the end of December and the last nine months have probably been the most challenging nine months in Arsenal’s history – and we’ve been around for 134 years.
“Despite all of those challenges, Mikel has been driving this football club forward,” chief executive Vinai Venkatesham told Arsenal Digital.
“He has lifted the spirits and lifted the energy here at London Colney and with Arsenal fans all across the world. He is doing an absolutely phenomenal job.
“The other thing that’s clear is that right from the day he walked through the door, he was doing much more than being our head coach.
“So we’re going to be changing his job title going forward.
“He’ll move from head coach to be the first-team manager.
“That’s recognition of what he’s been doing from the day he walked in the door, but also where we see his capabilities.
“He is doing a great job of coaching the first team and that’s his primary responsibility, but there is so much more that he can bring and that’s why we’re making this change, in recognition of his capabilities and also the job that he’s doing already.
“So in terms of how that will work, going forward Mikel will join a really strong team with Edu and they’ll be working really closely together to manage all the other elements of our football operations that are so important, whether that is analysis, recruitment, high performance or medical, they’ll be looking after those areas together.
“And they’ll also together be responsible for our technical recommendations, whether that’s players that we’re going to buy.
“Whether that’s players that we’re going to sell, whether that’s players that we’re going to loan.
“Of course, working closely with me and the board and working closely with the owners on the financial elements to make final decisions.
But those are going to be their responsibilities and I think we’re going to have a really dynamic team to drive this club forward.”