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.
Those things may sound unique but in their own ways they 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?
The wobbles, fire and belief
Arteta clearly has a thing about fire.
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 30 May.
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.
US-based Josh Kroenke – co-chairman and vice-president of Arsenal owners Kroenke Sports & Entertainment – is said to have been a regular at the training facility this season, with his involvement in club matters said to be at an all-time high.
In November, for instance, he made a special trip to London to see Arsenal’s women’s team handed the Freedom of Islington, spending time with players and supporter groups and speaking candidly about the local community fuelling the club’s success.
He flew in again after the defeat by Manchester United in January – around the same time Arteta made a passionate speech calling for supporters to “jump on the boat” with his team.
The club’s academy staff have played their part, too, with first-team players Bukayo Saka, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ethan Nwaneri and Max Dowman all products of their youth system.
Arsenal’s season is a sum of all its parts – and has not been without its challenging moments.
The Gunners have missed multiple opportunities to make the title race easier on the nerves, and also lost the Carabao Cup final to Manchester City.
Arteta is known for how ruthless he is as a manager but his decision to play Kepa Arrizabalaga at Wembley was a rare moment sentiment won, and the goalkeeper’s error played a part in costing them silverware.
But after losing to City again in the league – setting up a straight fight for the title – Arteta and Arsenal seemed to grow into the challenge.
The Gunners boss started to make decisions on feeling and intuition – something he maybe would not have done in the early part of his tenure.
One thing he has constantly done is use innovative methods.
And an AI song which names all of the squad members – which Arteta will only say “came from somewhere” – has become an anthem for the season and loved by the players.
The song includes one of Arteta’s favourite sayings – “make it happen”.
Having led Arsenal to the title, he can now say they did.
Arteta, intensity and building a legacy
For Arteta, building a legacy of sustained success is the ambition. Winning once is impressive, but repeating it is the mark of a truly great team.
With the Spaniard’s contract up at the end of the next season, the immediate priority for all parties is to agree an extension.
That process is under way and will accelerate after the Champions League final, with a will from all parties to have the new contract tied up before next season.
The expectation is Arteta will sign a new contract that will earn him a sharp increase on his current financial package of a basic £10m per season plus a further £5m for Champions League qualification.
There has been some internal talk, too, about Berta possibly engaging in conversations to extend his contract having been linked with potential moves to Saudi Arabia.
Arsenal are a club now moulded in Arteta’s image, with his job title changing from head coach to manager in September 2020.
The manager sits on the football leadership team with Kroenke, Garlick, James King and Berta. It is that five-man group that makes decisions on the direction of football at the club.
Arteta’s coaching staff are like him – passionate and intense, with even the analysts shouting from the stands.
And the manager was joined last summer by long-term friend and former team-mate Gabriel Heinze, who is an assistant coach. The Argentine has had a big impact this season, and has introduced a motivational huddle for defenders before each game.
Arteta is very hands-on and knows when to make an impact on his players with a strong telling-off and when he should coach.
But he has become good at delegating, too, with all of the backroom team delivering sessions so the squad don’t get tired of hearing one voice.
And now Arteta has guided this group to silverware, the focus can shift to the next campaign.
Arsenal are keen to recruit a midfielder, left-winger and striker, but we should expect a sharper focus on outgoings after last year’s £250m splurge.
The only senior player to depart last summer was Albert Lokonga.
This time, Arsenal have already agreed to sell defender Jakub Kiwior to Porto for an initial £14.7m. It is understood Christian Norgaard, who arrived in a deal worth up to £15m, will be allowed to leave, and the club are expected to listen to offers for Ben White, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira.
Arsenal are also giving consideration to a significant homegrown sale that would represent ‘pure profit’ on their balance sheet.
There have been internal discussions about selling Nwaneri, who is on loan at Marseille, or Lewis-Skelly though the latter’s emergence as a genuine central-midfield option for Arteta in recent weeks has been noted.
There is also a desire to keep the wage bill manageable. That is easier said than done, though, with defender Jurrien Timber and midfielder Declan Rice both in line for new deals in the not-too-distant future and Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Lewis-Skelly, Saka and Nwaneri having recently renewed their contracts.
With lucrative bonuses to be paid to players in light of this season’s success – not to mention the expectation Arteta’s salary will move closer to the £20m mark – keeping a rein on the club’s overheads will not be easy.
There is a growing sense behind the scenes the club must start planning a squad rebuild given a number of key players are in their late 20s.
This summer, they have a keen interest in Leicester teenager Jeremy Monga, and with Dowman, Marli Salmon, Edwin and Holger Quintero and Lewis-Skelly all in their teens, there is hope the rebuild may not prompt a noticeable drop in levels.
When the work for the season started
The groundwork for this special season started in November 2024 with a meeting with Kroenke in the US, where the board outlined their targets.
Berta – the man who delivered Arsenal’s £250m transfer spend last summer – was announced as sporting director in March 2025 and gifted red ties to members of the executive team.
His standing among Arsenal fans have soared since his arrival, especially after overseeing a transfer window that turned the team from nearly-men into champions.
But it is pertinent to say Berta’s appointment was a necessity following Edu’s decision to leave Arsenal in November 2024 to join Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis’ stable of clubs.
It is very conceivable Edu would still be at Arsenal now had he not taken the decision to depart.
The recruitment of young, hungry players who would benefit the club from a performance and player trading perspective was at the heart of Edu’s ethos.
Berta’s remit was less complex: to win. Under Edu, Arsenal had come so far – but the final step is always the hardest.
His influence in an attitude shift towards how the club recruited players is illustrated in the £64m signing of striker Viktor Gyokeres.
The Italian is passionate, like Arteta, as was seen when he ended up grappling with former colleague Diego Simeone in the final few minutes of Arsenal’s Champions League semi-final win over Atletico Madrid.
Arsenal put a lot of emphasis on recruiting players with good availability, robustness and resistance to injury heading into last summer’s window. They also made a conscious decision to sign physically imposing players.
It is a tactic that has paid dividends.
The striker hunt
After Arsenal finished second for the third time in a row last season, there was an acceptance that they needed a recognised goalscorer.
Benjamin Sesko, who joined Manchester United, was of interest – but it was felt Gyokeres was the more ‘win now’ signing of the two.
Sesko was attractive as an investment asset, but the fee needed to complete the deal – United paid up to £73.7m – was that of an established player.
Alexander Isak and Julian Alvarez had universal support from Arsenal’s recruitment team, but there was an understanding the price of both was likely to be prohibitive.
After Berta’s arrival, Arsenal pivoted to Gyokeres. It is understood Arteta needed to be fully convinced before agreeing to target the Swede, but eventually gave the green light.
Such was the desire to get the deal done and announce it while Arsenal were on tour in Asia, his medical was reviewed while he was on the flight to Singapore.
To make the most of Gyokeres’ ability to run behind the opposition defence, Arteta decided to make a tactical tweak to be more direct. At times, though – especially early on – he struggled to adapt.
After firing Sweden to the World Cup in the March international break, Gyokeres looked a player transformed. Having scored only five league goals by the middle of January, he now has 14 – and 21 in all competitions.
Stories of the season
Defensive excellence has been a big part of the Arsenal title story, with Gabriel and Saliba one of the best central-defensive partnerships in the world.
But a big hint of how the season was going to be shaped came when the Gunners posted their squad photo across social media.
Featuring with the squad that had finished second three times – and the £250m of new additions – was Max Dowman, then 15.
Dowman’s rise has not been a secret, with many agents and scouts describing him as the best academy player they have ever seen.
Even Arteta, who is very conscious of not applying pressure to the youngster, compared his talents with those of Argentina great Lionel Messi.
Dowman has broken records this season, becoming the youngest player to start for the club, their youngest Champions League player and the Premier League’s youngest scorer.
Rice – already a key part of the Arsenal spine – has had to step up further this season because of key injuries.
He has played the most minutes of any outfielder all season, preferring – though he can find the schedule gruelling – to play three times a week as it helps him to keep his rhythm during a long season.
Rice, goalkeeper David Raya, and Gabriel have undoubtedly proved key this season but this has been a title win built on a collective – and a long-term project that has finally come to fruition.
What happens next remains to be seen.
By BBC News
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