Pickpockets, ping pong and protection at the back… inside Arsenal’s project to take that final step under Mikel Arteta with the blueprint and players in place to win the Premier League

It takes years for a manager to make a football club his own. The trust needed to completely overhaul a Premier League outfit is not afforded to many.

For Mikel Arteta, after battling Manchester City for the title for two consecutive seasons, he now holds all the keys at Arsenal.

Whether it is hiring professional pickpockets to operate while his players are eating dinner – it was a device to remind the players to always be vigilant – or vetoing a pre-season fixture in the USA against Wrexham, the fingerprints of Arteta are everywhere.

Acronyms such as BASICS (Boxes, Attack, Shape, Intensity, Compete, Set-pieces) are plastered across the dressing room when the Gunners play away from home, to remind the squad of key messages and give them a sense of familiarity.

Everything is about competition. From training-session drills to a game of table tennis, Arteta has forged an environment where winners and losers are not only made on match days.

Arteta holds all of the keys at the club after battling Manchester City for two straight seasons

It comes from his character. The Spaniard is so invested in Arsenal that he does not think twice about speaking to non-football club staff if he sees something amiss.

The squad is his. Of the 2019 crop Arteta inherited, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli may be the only survivors by the time the transfer window closes. Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah and Kieran Tierney could all be on the way out.

Having had such backing from sporting director Edu and managing director Richard Garlick, who are heavily involved on a day-to-day basis, and given the Gunners have come so close in the last two seasons to winning the title, this is crunch time for Arteta.

It must work. He has arguably the best defence in the league; a midfield blessed with the quality of £105million Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard; wingers in Saka, Martinelli and Leandro Trossard who provide a goal threat; a choice of Kai Havertz or Gabriel Jesus to spearhead the attack; and a Golden Glove-winning goalkeeper in David Raya.

A squad who can win the league this season, without doubt, which is why many expect Arsenal and Arteta to do just that.

The squad is capable of lifting the trophy and many expect Arsenal and Arteta to do just that

Riccardo Calafiori joined in a £42m deal from Bologna and will provide depth in defence

It was a Monday afternoon in Philadelphia when the 42-year-old let slip a key part of his blueprint for this latest title tilt. After weeks of speculation, the Gunners had finally announced the £42m signing of Riccardo Calafiori and the questions flew in about the arrival from Bologna.

Amid the excitement, there was a key detail from Arteta which was not immediately picked up; a detail on how the Arsenal backline personnel would be deployed across the next nine months.

Last season Arsenal finished with the best defence in the league: the most clean-sheets (18), the fewest goals conceded (29) and with a Gunners player clocking up every minute of a league season for the first time (William Saliba).

That made the acquisition of yet another defender peculiar to many, particularly without a 20-goal-a-season striker in their ranks.

Yet Arteta’s rationale is clear. ‘We were really short in the backline last season in terms of numbers,’ he said. ‘We demanded so much from them.

‘Willy, for example, played every minute of the Premier League and we believe that we have to protect them much more.

Arteta is determined not to rely so heavily on centre-back pair William Saliba and Gabriel

‘We ended up with six defenders in the backline. At this level you have to be really lucky to sustain a season like this. We were lucky because Willy and Gabi (Gabriel Magalhaes) played nearly every minute. Willy played more than 50 per cent more minutes than the previous season.

‘Whether they can sustain that for three or four years is a big question. At this level you can’t just bet on that. That’s a big bet, and we didn’t want to take it.’

It points to Arteta using more rotation at the back in this campaign and not relying so heavily on Saliba and Gabriel.

He makes a good point about his centre-back pairing. In the league, Saliba was on the pitch for all 3,420 minutes, while his counterpart Gabriel played 3,044 minutes.

Saliba and Wolves’ Max Kilman – who has now joined West Ham – were the division’s most-used defenders.

That’s where Calafiori comes in. The Italian is versatile – he can play left back and centre back – and ready to slot in from game one. The 22-year-old had a strong Euros campaign and arrives in England wanting to play rather than sit on the bench each week.

Saliba (pictured) and Max Kilman were the top-flight’s most-used defenders last season

His 26-minute cameo in the 2-0 friendly win against Lyon last week showed real signs of promise and confidence on the ball. 

‘We identified him as a top player, a talent who has the skills and qualities that are going to make us better,’ said Arteta. ‘He is still a player with a huge capacity to develop. (He can play) both positions (left back and centre back) and especially the way we want to play and the things we want to evolve. He is a player who is going to fit really well for what we want.’

It fits into the chameleon psyche of Arsenal’s defence as a whole. Jurrien Timber, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White can all play at both full back and centre back. It is a rare luxury for a Premier League side to have so many interchangeable defenders. But they are also able to move into midfield when Arsenal have the ball.

Yet it is not just about having the ability to adapt, you also need the willingness to do so. Under Arteta, you adapt or fall by the wayside. That ruthlessness can be seen in the way that players such as Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil were jettisoned.

The lack of a traditional No 9 who can carry the goalscoring load was a contentious point last season. But the truth is that Arteta does not see signing a player in that position as a priority.

Bolstering the defence was more critical, which is why Arsenal signed Calafiori. And the next target is a midfielder. Real Sociedad’s Mikel Merino has been relentlessly pursued, with Edu travelling to Spain to try to get a deal over the line for the 28-year-old. You can broadly understand Arsenal and Arteta’s rationale. 

Real Sociedad’s Mikel Merino is on Arsenal’s shortlist as they look to bolster their midfield

Arteta revealed Arsenal’s players vowed over dinner that they would win the league this time

Last season the Gunners scored 91 league goals – their highest tally since the 1952-53 season. They were struck by 17 different players. That is impressive. 

There are two reasons highlighted by Arsenal staff as to why they club lost the title. The most predominant was getting sucked into a December slump when they lost to Aston Villa, West Ham and Fulham.

The other reason was the 2-0 defeat by Villa in April. If they had won that game, the league would have been theirs. So these are the aspects that cost the Gunners, not solely the lack of a striker. 

They can cope without an Erling Haaland-esque goalscorer in their ranks. Not that anyone denies it would be nice to have one. Should a prolific striker become available at the right price, you would not put it past Arsenal to sign one over the next two transfer windows.

For now, though, it’s Havertz – who scored 13 league goals last season – and Jesus who will predominantly lead the front line.

Havertz has proven he can play in the false-nine role and, crucially, contribute goals.

It is Jesus who has been more of an enigma after being plagued by knee injuries since the World Cup in December 2022, but the Brazilian is now fully fit.

The Arsenal camp believe Jesus, after arriving for the US pre-season tour in top condition, could be a different player this season. Having scored just four league goals in the last campaign, he needs to be. Particularly with his ability to also provide an option out wide. 

So the blueprint and players required are in place. So is the desire. Arteta revealed that Arsenal had a dinner shortly after Manchester City claimed the title, at which they vowed to go one better this season.

‘We had a gathering together with all the club players and the players were saying to me, ‘We’re going to be better, we’re going to do it, we want more’,’ he said.

‘They are the ones driving that ambition. So that’s always positive.’

Arteta has all the keys – and has opened most of the doors.

A final one remains.