- Arsenal failed to overhaul Man City on the final day of the season
- Mikel Arteta believes his team will have to up their points tally next season
- CHRIS SUTTON: Fans are sick and tired of VAR… but it’s here to stay – Listen to the It’s All Kicking Off podcast
Mikel Arteta admitted that it might take 100 points to wrest the Premier League title away from Manchester City next season.
Arsenal lost just one league game in 2024 and finished on 89 points, yet still fell short of lifting a first title since 2004.
Arteta was Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Man City between 2016 and 2019 and knows what exactly how high their levels are.
When asked whether winning the title could require 100 points, he said: ‘Yeah. I was there when we did 100 points, so I know what it takes. I know what happened and this is the level.
‘No one has to explain what the level is because I was there four years every day and I know what we have to do if we are going to reach there. Not only for one season, but for the rest, but we are on the right path.
Mikel Arteta watched his side fall short in their quest to win the Premier League on Sunday
Arsenal accumulated 89 points but it was still not enough to stop Man City winning their fourth straight title
‘We’re on the right trajectory and now we need really to pull the teeth and bite into it because we really want more.’
The Gunners have kept in contention right to the final day after a mini wobble in December, which saw them lose to West Ham and Fulham.
‘Since December we have been on an incredible journey,’ said Arteta. ‘Every performance has been at the highest level we have seen, and it still wasn’t enough.
‘The staff have done an incredible job. They have pushed every limit, every margin that we could find to try win this Premier League and unfortunately it was a bit short and we couldn’t deliver the big prize that we wanted.’
Where the title was lost for Arsenal is clear in Arteta’s mind.
He added: ‘For sure Aston Villa at home (in April), in the first half it should’ve been 4-0. Maybe the story would have been different. The margins are so, so small.
‘And that’s the credit the club and team should take because you are doing this against the best team in the history of the Premier League by far.’
