Arteta on giving up on title: ‘Over my dead body’

Mikel Arteta has said he would give up on Arsenal’s title hopes “over my dead body” but added that his side will have to do something unprecedented in Premier League history to win it.

Arsenal suffered a devastating blow in their title campaign last weekend. Their surprise loss at home to West Ham coupled with Liverpool’s win at Manchester City left them 11 points behind the Merseyside club.

When asked if he would concede the title, Arteta defiantly said: “Over my dead body.

“If not I will go home. Mathematically it is possible. You are there, you have to play every game, suddenly three days ago we could close a gap and you are like ‘you are one-and-a-half games away.’ It doesn’t matter, we have to continue to go.”

“The difficulty is higher than three days about but if you are going to win the Premier League you have to do something special. If you are going to win the Premier League with the circumstances we have you will probably have to do something that nobody else has done in the history of the Premier League.”

The loss to West Ham further highlighted Arsenal’s shortage of attacking with options, with Raheem Sterling, Leandro Trossard and Ethan Nwaneri the only available forwards at the moment. Arteta confirmed that injured duo Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are “progressing really well” but said they are still some way away from making a comeback.

The one positive Arsenal could take from the game was the return of Ben White, who made his first appearance since November after undergoing knee surgery.

“He is a player that has given us something very special, especially in that right unit. We haven’t played the right unit at all this season with him, Bukayo and Martin [Ødegaard]. It is great to have him back, more options, his energy, the way he is around the team. He certainly has been missed,” he said.

Arsenal will look to get their faltering title charge back on track at Nottingham Forest, and Arteta was full of praise for his counterpart Nuno Espirito Santo for the job he’s done to take the club into third-place this season.

“Unbelievable. Not only with [Forest] but what he did at Wolves, it was incredible. Huge pride for him, the coaching staff, the club as well,” he said.

“What they have generated after coming into the Premier League is a remarkable story so well done to them.”