4.30pm Arteta LIVE: Arteta CONFIRMED as manager, fans mocked as ‘Arteta Out’ trends, press conference set for 5pm – The Sun

MIKEL ARTETA is the new Arsenal manager!

The Spaniard joins on a contract until 2023 and is set to be joined by Steve Round as assistant manager and Inaki Cana Pavon as goalkeeping coach.

But the futures of dressing room leaders Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Granit Xhaka and Mesut Ozil remain very much up in the air.

Follow all the latest gossip and transfer news from the Emirates below…

  • MANCHESTER CITY’S fury over the way Arsenal have handled their approach for Mikel Arteta took one final turn for the worse on Friday.

    The champions had accused their Premier League rivals of showing them disrespect by not keeping them in the loop on Wednesday night.

    And the Gunners twisted the knife again by making the announcement of Arteta’s appointment without telling his former employees.

    Normally the etiquette is for the two clubs to liaise so they can synchronise the time that the news comes out.

    But Arsenal went ahead and did their own thing – leaving puzzled City officials to find out from watching the television.

    The incident rounded off what has become a shambolic effort by the Gunners to appoint former midfielder Arteta.

    The two legal teams of the two clubs came to an agreement over a compensation figure of around £2 million earlier on Friday.

  • ARSENAL fans are once again being heavily mocked on social media as artetaout trended just minutes after the Spaniard's appointment.

    Gunners fans have become renowned for their desperate attempts to have their managers sacked – after ruthless campaigns against Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery.

    And with their notorious reputation, it should come as no shock that Arsenal fans are being parodied on Twitter.

    Especially given that artetaout already trended on Wednesday night – BEFORE the 37-year-old had even been appointed.

    One fan wrote on Twitter: “WE HAVEN'T WON A SINGLE GAME UNDER ARTETA. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH artetaout“.

    While another joked: “artetaout We need a proven winner like Unai Emery”.

    “In 5 gameweeks time, i reckon there will be artetaout,” another wrote.

    While one quipped: “artetaout Welcome back Arteta but I don't think whether you can change Arsenal welcomearteta“.

    And one pretended to huff: “Enough is enough, we clearly haven’t improved under him. He’s no better than Freddie. Arteta is not fit to manage Arsenal football club. artetaout.”

  • MIKEL ARTETA is reportedly already making plans to add to the Gunners' beleaguered squad.

    The North London giants have recently been credited with an interest in Sevilla's 17-year-old wonderkid Antonio Zarzana.

    Arsenal, along with Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Liverpool, have been tracking the midfielder's progress, as he continues to impress at youth level for Spain's U17 side, and with Sevilla's reserves.

    And having Arteta as his mentor might just swing the vote for Zarzana, who could see the Premier League side as the perfect place to continue his development.

    Arteta has been announced the new permanent manager at Arsenal, who sacked Unai Emery earlier this month.

    And reports from Spain say Arsenal have already opened negotiations with the La Liga club.

    Read more HERE.

  • CHARLIE NICHOLAS has claimed Mikel Arteta has a huge job on his hands, with the Spaniard not his first choice to replace Unai Emery.

    The Sky Sports pundit said: “My initial choice was Brendan Rodgers. But the honest truth is Arsenal needed someone, the second choice was Arteta, and this is a project, as they call it in modern-day football.

    “Arsene Wenger came with no reputation, and look what happened to him. Arteta has been with, in my opinion, the best in Pep Guardiola, to learn and understand it.

    “He’s an intelligent guy, he’s a leader, he was a leader at Everton and Arsenal, and was well-respected at both. I did not want Arsenal going down the Man Utd line, which was to throw money at a big name coach. They might win a couple of trophies, but you’re building nothing.

    “It’s all about building blocks, and Arsenal have to get back to that. Arsenal at the moment are an average team, a giant club, and they have to get the balance right.

    “This is a three-year project, and Arsenal are well behind. But they could be threatening for that top four again next season. Could it happen this season? No.

    “They’ve got too many decisions to make, like: what do I do with the defence? Who is going to be sold? Do Aubameyang and Lacazette want to stay? Do I get rid of Ozil? It’s a lot to calculate and process.”

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