Mikel Arteta has completely changed Arsenal Football Club.
When the Spaniard arrived in North London at the end of 2019, the Gunners were broken. The atmosphere around the club was toxic, the squad lacked direction, and the team looked a million miles away from competing for the biggest trophies again.
Fast forward to now, and Arteta has delivered the Premier League title while also taking Arsenal to a Champions League final.
However, none of that may have happened if not for one emotional moment between Josh Kroenke and his father, Stan, years ago.
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The emotional question Josh Kroenke asked Stan before Arsenal hired Mikel Arteta
Arsenal’s disastrous defeat to Chelsea in the Europa League final back in 2019 proved to be a turning point for the football club.
Missing out on Champions League qualification was a huge blow financially and emotionally, and it forced serious conversations behind the scenes about Arsenal’s future direction.
According to the Daily Mail, Josh Kroenke believed the club needed a complete reset. He wanted Arsenal to become younger, fresher and more ambitious both on the pitch and in the dugout.
However, Stan Kroenke was not initially fully convinced about appointing a young manager to lead such a massive football club.
That is when Josh reportedly asked his father one emotional question that completely changed the conversation.
He said: “Am I too young, too?”
That moment reportedly shifted Stan’s stance and opened the door for Arsenal to seriously pursue Arteta, who was only 37 years old at the time.
After Unai Emery’s sacking and Freddie Ljungberg’s interim spell, Arteta was eventually handed the job. That changed Arsenal’s history forever.
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Mikel Arteta has completely transformed Arsenal since taking charge
When Arteta arrived at Arsenal, very few people could have imagined things would turn out this well.
The squad needed major surgery, the culture around the club was weak and Arsenal were miles behind the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool.
Yet Arteta slowly rebuilt everything from the ground up.
The Gunners’ boss changed the mentality, improved standards behind the scenes and helped turn Arsenal into one of the best teams in world football again.
Now, the Gunners are Premier League champions and one game away from potentially becoming champions of Europe too.
Looking back now, Josh Kroenke’s emotional question may genuinely go down as one of the most important moments in Arsenal’s modern history.
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