TIME TO DELIVER, MIKEL

ROBERT J WILSON ON A CRUCIAL SEASON FOR THE GUNNERS BOSS - AND THE LATEST RECRUITS HE'S BANKING ON

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MIKEL Arteta must surely acknowledge that he is now in the last-chance saloon. Arsenal’s Spanish manager has unquestionably revitalised the North London club over the last five and half years, but he still only has one solitary FA Cup to show for his endeavour.

That FA Cup victory over Chelsea in 2020 should have provided the springboard for further trophies, but it hasn’t quite materialised for them or him.

The Gunners have become the nearly-men. Arteta has done a sterling job to get Arsenal competing again, but now he has to deliver.

Arteta has evidently shown that he possesses the ruthless streak required to stamp his own mark on the club.

The previous Premier League Golden Boot winner and decisive match winner against Chelsea in the Cup final, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, was very publicly discarded to Barcelona in the January transfer window of 2022. The French-born Gabon international had been stripped of the club's captaincy following ill-discipline and his attitude was questioned by his manager.

Although a prolific goalscorer and popular with supporters, the club sided with their young manager and Aubameyang was offloaded to Spain. Arsenal would go on to miss out on Champions League football that season after finishing fifth.

Of course, over the last few seasons Arsenal have been crying out for a forward capable of scoring 92 goals in 163 appearances. In truth, the club never replaced Aubameyang's goal return. It could have indeed cost them a trophy or two.

Arteta chose to shape his own squad and improve the culture. Mesut Ozil left by mutual consent for Turkey and future World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was transferred to Aston Villa for £20m, but slowly but surely quality began to arrive.

Defender Gabriel signed from Lille and the club paid Atletico Madrid £45m for robust midfielder Thomas Partey. Martin Odegaard's original loan spell from Real Madrid was made permanent.