Mikel Arteta said a rivalry with Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca and other new managers in the Premier League this season can help raise the level of Arsenal.
Arteta and Maresca will go head-to-head for the first time since the Italian was tasked with replacing Pep Guardiola at Etihad Stadium in Sunday’s Community Shield in Cardiff.
Arsenal boss Arteta backed ex-Chelsea head coach Maresca to do an “unbelievable job” on Friday and City are one of nine clubs under new management this season.
The lack of coaching stability across the division has contributed towards a general feeling that Arsenal are overwhelming favourites to defend their Premier League crown.
Arteta was eager to sidestep that talk and avoid too much focus on Maresca in Friday’s news conference, especially when fellow Basque coach Xabi Alonso is one of several new managers in the Premier League and the 44-year-old is also yet to face Roberto De Zerbi since his March arrival at Tottenham.
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“Well, [rivalry] with a few managers as well [as Maresca] and some new ones coming into the league that are exceptional as well,” Arteta said.
“We know this league is full of incredible managers. It is so challenging every week to prepare games against them. That will elevate our level and my level for sure and we will try to be better.
“Every club would have their strengths. Some because they have won a lot in the last 10 years, some because of the squads, some because of the money they have spent.
“We know ours and ours is related to what we have been producing for the last four or five years in a really consistent way, but as well, we can be better and that is what we are focusing on to sustain that consistency.
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“You called it stability, but I don’t want to be stable, I want to be better and more ambitious. That is what we want.”
Arteta will make a late call on the fitness of England duo Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka before the City clash.
Rice and Saka returned to training this week after a demanding World Cup campaign, which occurred following a successful but challenging 2025-26 season where both had to manage fitness problems.
Summer recruits Bruno Guimarães and Christos Tzolis are primed to make their competitive debuts for the Gunners against City, who won two of the three meetings during the last campaign, including in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
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Asked if City will still be Arsenal’s biggest challenger for Premier League title success despite the departure of Guardiola, Arteta said: “We will have a lot of challengers.
“Looking at the squads, at the managers and at the clubs they are, but we know that.
“We need to focus on ourselves and making sure that we maximise every resource we have to give ourselves the best chance. Then, day by day, it is going to be a long, long run.”
