Arsenal win Premier League after 22 years

A message about a boat, a fire at the training ground and an AI TikTok song have helped power Arsenal to their first Premier League title for 22 years.

That may sound bizarre - but each of those elements, in their own way, have contributed to the long-awaited success Mikel Arteta has brought to north London.

Arsenal became champions on Tuesday when Manchester City drew 1-1 at Bournemouth - but how have they won the title?

Just last month, with his team on a poor run of form that briefly threatened to scupper their title quest, he asked his players to metaphorically throw their negative thoughts into a fire that had been lit at the club’s training ground.

In the longer term, Arteta has shown his penchant for hosting barbecues for his players, staff and their families at the club’s London Colney headquarters - showing the importance he places on nurturing bonds.

And the fire continues to burn - with the title won, the Gunners will now target Champions League glory when they face Paris St-Germain on May 30.

Victory in Budapest and this Arsenal team can call themselves the greatest ever in the club’s history.

This isn’t necessarily a story of a single all-conquering season, but rather the culmination of a meticulously plotted six-year project.

“Trust the process,” said Arteta in June 2020. In the fullness of time, he was right.

Arteta is the red arrow - the force of nature who has steered and shaped the team into one of the most impressive in European football.

He and sporting director Andrea Berta will deservedly be praised for getting Arsenal over the line this season. But, in truth, success has been built over multiple years.

Former sporting director Edu and the team he assembled - including assistant Jason Ayto and technical director James Ellis, who have both departed in the past 12 months - and the influence of head of football intelligence Mark Curtis, certainly in terms of recruitment, have transformed the squad into one that is the envy of world football.

Of the club’s top 15 appearance-makers in the Premier League this season, 10 were signings made on Edu’s watch.

Richard Garlick, who was promoted into the role of chief executive in September, has backed the club’s rebuilding strategy to the hilt since his arrival from the Premier League - initially as director of football operations - in 2021.

 (BBC sport)