The Premier League returns on Saturday, and our Nottingham Forest fixture will be a special occasion for Mikel Arteta as he takes charge of us for the 250th time.
It’s been nearly five years since the Spaniard first sat in our dugout as our boss, and the stats show that it’s been a hugely successful tenure so far.
That’s because no manager has picked up more wins in their first 250 matches in all competitions than Mikel, who has 146 so far to his name:
Mikel is the 10th Arsenal manager to oversee 250 matches, and is the third youngest to do so, as he’ll be 42 years and 242 years on the day of the Forest match, behind only our first two-ever managers – George Morrell and Leslie Knighton.
When it comes to players selected in that time, Mikel has picked 69 different Gunners since he first scribbled on a teamsheet at Bournemouth in December 2019. One player remains with the club since that day, so it’s unsurprising to see Bukayo Saka way out in front in terms of games played and goals scored during Mikel’s stint in charge.
11 players have been selected over 100 times, while 10 have been picked just once. Six of those have come this season so far, as Mikel looks to the next generation to help him maintain his excellent record into the next 250 matches.
