Arteta named 2025/26 Barclays Manager of the Season
Arsenal manager wins the award for the first time after helping his side end 22-year wait for the title
Mikel Arteta has been named the Barclays Manager of the Season for the first time after leading Arsenal to the Premier League title in 2025/26.
It is an historic achievement for the Gunners, coming 22 years after their last Premier League title success in 2003/04 when Arsene Wenger’s “Invincibles” went the entire campaign unbeaten.
Arteta is the first Arsenal boss to win the Manager of the Season award since Wenger, who achieved it in each of his three title-winning campaigns (1997/98, 2001/02 and 2003/04).
After presiding over three consecutive second-place finishes, Arteta and his squad finally went one better this time around, beating Manchester City to the title in the penultimate Matchweek.
The Gunners’ success has been built upon solid foundations. They have kept clean sheets in 19 of their 38 matches and conceded only 27 goals — both were league-leading totals for the season.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the pitch, they have scored the second-highest tally of goals, 71, bettered only by Man City’s 77.
Arteta is the first manager to win the Premier League with a club that he also played for in the competition, after representing them as a player from 2011 until 2016.
Watch: Arteta’s journey to Premier League title
Aged 44 years and 54 days, Arteta is the third-youngest manager to win the Premier League. The first and second-youngest were both Jose Mourinho, who won the title with Chelsea at the age of 42 years and 94 days in 2004/05, and then 43 years and 93 days in 2005/06.
Arteta has won the Manager of the Season award after votes by the public were combined with those of a panel of football experts. The six-man shortlist also included Brentford’s Keith Andrews, Manchester United’s Michael Carrick, Man City’s Pep Guardiola, AFC Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola and Sunderland’s Regis Le Bris.
Watch: Arteta’s season highlights
Arsenal will now aim to end their campaign by doing a Premier League and UEFA Champions League double.
They face current holders Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final on Saturday in Budapest, where they will hope to win the competition for the first time.