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Mikel Arteta interview: Taking Arsenal from midtable to Premier League title challengers with his five-phase plan

LONDON -- Arsenal may have exceeded all expectations to top the Premier League in mid-March, but manager Mikel Arteta is just getting started.

When the 40-year-old laid out his blueprint for restoring the Gunners to pre-eminence in conversation with the Kroenke family upon his appointment in December 2019, his plan had five distinct phases. At that time Arsenal were out of the Champions League, 10th in the table and swallowed by the shadow of their former glories. Arteta's predecessor, Unai Emery, had proved incapable of dragging them back into the light.

- Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.