Arteta reveals becoming Arsenal manager was one of the happiest days of his life

Mikel Arteta has revealed that becoming Arsenal manager was one of the happiest days of his life.

Arteta was named as Arsenal boss in December 2019 and guided the Gunners to glory in the FA Cup in 2020.

Arsenal subsequently endured some difficult moments but are now thriving and are currently top of the Premier League, while they are through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League as they prepare to take on Bayern Munich.

Reflecting on being named as Arsenal manager, Arteta stated that he felt that he would be able to have a major impact on the club.

Arteta told FedEX's Outside The Box series: 'When we went through the process and I was one of the candidates that Arsenal had in the list to become the new manager, I had a strong belief that I was going to impact the club and the team in a really strong way.

'At the same time, you have fears, but I had been preparing for that. For many years. I dreamed about it (becoming Arsenal manager). It was one of the happiest days of my life.'

Arteta joined Arsenal as a player from Everton in 2011 and is very grateful to Arsene Wenger for the opportunity that he gave him.

Wenger helped Arteta to develop his leadership skills and had a major impact on his career.

Arteta made 150 appearances for Arsenal as a player and scored 16 goals.

He said: 'The opportunity Arsène (Wenger) gave me to be part of this football club (Arsenal) as a player, it was something that I had dreamed about many, many, many times in my football career.

'And one day he decided to make me captain and that helped me so much. He was a key figure in developing my leadership skills, the way he trusted me, the way he communicated with me.

'Arsène's impact on my career has been tremendous.'

Arteta also learned a lot from