Arsenal players are determined to win the league and better their second-place finish from last season, manager Mikel Arteta said in a prematch news conference on Friday.
After narrowly missing out on taking the Premier League title on the final day of the last season, the Arsenal players are hungry for a better result in the upcoming season.
“I think we had a gathering together with all the club players and the players said to me, ‘We’re going to do it, we want more,'” Arteta said.
“We’re not going to stop here and we want much more. We know how we want to evolve and how the players can evolve.
“Those margins are huge and we have to fill them.”
To better the squad’s chances this season, Arteta identified Real Sociedad’s Mikel Merino as his foremost target to strengthen his midfield, but at the time of reporting, no agreement has been reached for the Euro 2024 winner.
“You know that I cannot talk about any other players,” Arteta said regarding Merino.
When asked more generally about Arsenal’s summer signings Arteta said: “After [last] season we had two objectives — the main and most important one is make sure we are still in love with our players.
“Then, OK, if there are still opportunities in the market we will look at them.”
Riccardo Calafiori was introduced into the squad to bolster their defense, making his first appearance in their final preseason match, which saw Arsenal beat Lyon 2-0.
Calafiori will be in line for his Premier League debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers as Arsenal open their season without defenders Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney.
Dutch full-back Jurriën Timber is available for the north London club after missing almost a year with a knee injury.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.
