Emotional Ian Wright sets new Premier League target for Arsenal after title win

Ian Wright has told Arsenal to ‘go on a Manchester City tear’ in the Premier League and win ‘another couple in the next five or six years’ following the side’s title triumph.

Bournemouth held City to a 1-1 draw at the Vitality Stadium to ensure Mikel Arteta’s men clinched the title with a game to spare on Tuesday night.

The victory brought Arsenal’s painful 22-year wait for the title to an end, with Arsene Wenger the last manager to bring the trophy back to north London in 2004.

As Arsenal’s jubilant squad gathered at the club’s training ground, the Gunners made sure Wenger was a part of the celebrations, sharing a touching video message on social media in which the iconic Frenchman passed on his congratulations to Arteta and his players.

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Outside the Emirates, meanwhile, there were raucous scenes and fireworks as supporters flocked to soak up in their first title win in a generation, six years on from the team’s FA Cup win under Arteta – the Spaniard’s only other major trophy since taking charge.

Former Arsenal striker Wright, who has been an ardent defender of Arteta throughout the highs and the lows, was pictured going through all the emotions in amongst the celebrations.

Speaking to Stan Sport Football, the ex-England international appeared close to tears as he attempted to describe what the win meant following three successive runners-up finishes in top flight.

Wright said: ‘Winning in ’98 was unbelievable but experiencing it as a fan, with everything we’ve gone through in the last three years and everything that’s gone on, everything we’ve had to take…

‘It’s just been so tough the last three years and to finally do it… honestly, what can I say.

‘Mikel, unbelievable. For what he’s done, it’s almost visionary what he’s done. He came in, turned everything around, got the owners on side, got the fans on side, got players out, got players in, stuck to his principles.

‘Hale End… Per Mertesacker is leaving now, unbelievable work he’s done for us. Even Edu, he’s got to get some love, Vinai [Venkatesham], all these people who have got us to this, it’s amazing.

‘This club deserves it, our fans deserve it, all around the world, we deserve this now.’

Wright made sure to hit back at those who had ‘hammered’ Arsenal over the last few seasons and branded the squad ‘bottlers’.

‘People just hammer us all the time, constantly hammer us, hammer us,’ he added.

‘They hammer our manager for his gimmicks, his this, his that. Now they can’t do that no more.

‘All that noise has got to stop because everything he’s done has led to them winning the league so they can’t hammer him for his gimmicks now.

‘The fans getting hammered, “We’re bottlers, we’re this, we’re that!”, we’ve had to take that for the last three years and now this season, this team, with the squad they’ve built… people said at the start of the season that this squad was good enough to do it and they were.’

Describing the moment he learned that Arsenal were officially crowned champions, Wright explained: ‘When Bournemouth scored I was absolutely over the moon. They missed a couple of good chances as well.

‘I got my Mrs and my girls in a cab and said, “Come on, we’re going down there! Let’s go to the Emirates“, and then Erling Haaland scored.

‘There was only a minute or two to go and the taxi man had it on, I said to turn it off, “I don’t want to listen to it!”, and then bam, he blew the whistle and it’s done.’

Having missed much of Arsenal’s triumph in 1997/98 through injury, Wright admitted the current side’s win may even have been more special for him personally.

‘It feels better [than when he won the title as a player] because I was injured for half of that season,’ he continued.

‘As much as I was in the dressing room for most of it and got back towards the end, to be on the journey as a fan from the off, when Mikel got here…

‘I said this is the guy to kick some butts and get us back to where we need to be.

‘It will look good in history now simply because I believe in the club, I believe in the owners and what they’ve done, I believe in Mikel and the players he’s brought in.

‘Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, David Raya with what he’s done… I’m just naming people.

‘Even Eberechi Eze coming in and having some moments, these players have to get a Premier League medal with what they’ve done for this club, Ben White with what he’s done for us. I’m just delighted for the club.’

Asked if it could be the start of an new era of success for the club, Wright replied: ‘You hope so because obviously the first one is the toughest one to get.

‘I know there are players around the world who want to sign for Arsenal so fingers crossed we can go on a Manchester City tear, do two or three [titles].

‘I’d love us to win another couple in the next five or six years, absolutely.’