The clock is ticking for Mikel Arteta to lead Arsenal to a Premier League title, according to Lee Dixon.
Arteta signed a new contract with the Gunners last week that will keep the manager at Emirates Stadium for another three years, after the former club captain spearheaded a turnaround that propelled the North London side into perennial league title contenders.
But Arteta has yet to lead the club to the top of the Premier League mountain, with Arsenal finishing as runners-up behind Manchester City in each of the last two seasons.
With a new contract in hand and the continued freedom to shape the team as he sees fit, Dixon says the time for Arteta to reach the next step is coming fast.
"It’s time for Arteta and Arsenal to start winning titles," Dixon, who won four league titles as a player with Arsenal between 1989 and 2002, told Gambling Zone. "That’s the natural progression for the progress the club has made over the last few years under Mikel.
"There's no point in adding depth to the squad and signing better players, playing fancy football if you don’t win anything. The point of management is to improve players and win trophies, and that’s what Mikel will be aiming for. That's what he’s in it for.
"It’s irrelevant that Arsenal are challenging one of the juggernauts of modern-day football in Man City, that’s just the way it is at this moment in time.
"Arteta knows better than anyone that he needs to win some major titles. He doesn’t need to be told that by anyone."
Dixon gives Arteta credit for reinvigorating a club that had back-to-back eighth-place finishes in 2019-20 and 2020-21, and says it's the manager's own need for excellence that has set the bar so high.
"The club have given him everything that he’s asked for," Dixon said. "He’s been really well supported, and he’s got people around him that have complete faith in his ability to turn this potential into trophies.
"He’s rebuilt the connection between the club, its fans and the players. Things were toxic at Arsenal for far too many years, but now the Emirates is a very happy place, and he’s been the main facilitator of that.
"He’s ticked every box and the most difficult one left is winning the Premier League. If he doesn’t achieve that in the next two or three years, he will say that he’s failed. It would be a failure because of the standards that he sets."
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