Arteta responds to Guardiola’s major Arsenal claim
Mikel Arteta has responded to Pep Guardiola’s claim that Arsenal are currently the best team in the world.
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Speaking at his press conference ahead of Manchester City’s upcoming Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Pep Guardiola claimed that Arsenal are currently the best team in the world.
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“The best team in the world right now,” Guardiola said of Arsenal. “Look at the Champions League, look at the Premier League, look at the FA Cup, Carabao Cup. They are the best team at the moment.
“Hopefully we can be close and improve, improve and give ourselves a chance to catch them.”
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Mikel Arteta was asked about the comments during his own press conference later today, as he prepares his team for a big game against Manchester United this weekend.
“I don’t know,” Arteta replied. “I think we are a team that wants to be constantly better, that we do a lot of things well, but we are far from perfect, and our only goal is to maintain the level that we are doing, but especially in certain areas, to try to improve again.
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“It’s always much better to hear positive things about your team and the work you do but obviously that’s a big word especially because in my opinion to be linked to that you have to win a lot of things and we didn’t do that.
“But we definitely aim to be the best version we can every day and we’re not going to stop until we achieve that.”
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Arsenal certainly won’t be remembered as the best team in the world this season if they collapse in the second half of the campaign and fail to win anything.
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As things stand, the Gunners are still in contention for the four trophies they started the season with. They are top of the Premier League table, top of the Champions League table, winning their League Cup semi-final against Chelsea and in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
But it doesn’t take much for the points gap in the Premier League to evaporate. Being top of the Champions League standings is great, but it doesn’t matter much if you lose your first knockout match. Liverpool have known all this since last season.
The cup fasteners are even more fragile. One mistake and your tournament could end immediately.
If Arsenal are to prove Guardiola’s claims, they must remain consistent and continue to impress in all four competitions in 2026.