Mikel Arteta has said that he is "happy and tremendously grateful to be at Arsenal" amid suggestions that he is wanted by Paris Saint-Germain this summer.
The 41-year-old has been in charge of Arsenal since December 2019, and he led the club to a second-placed finish in the 2022-23 Premier League table.
There have recently been suggestions that PSG want Arteta to replace Christophe Galtier as their new manager, and the Spaniard was asked about the apparent interest during a wide-ranging interview with Marca.
Arteta refused to directly comment on the speculation but said that he was "happy" at the Emirates Stadium and has no desire to seek pastures new at this stage of his career.
"I can only say that I am happy at Arsenal. I feel loved, valued by our owners, Stan and Josh [the two Kroenkes], and I have a lot to do here at this club. I am happy and tremendously grateful to be at Arsenal," he said.
Arteta, though, said that "it could be an option" to return to his home country Spain to manage in the future, with Barcelona and Real Madrid mentioned as possible suitors.
"Spain is my country. I've been away for many years and at some point it could be an option to return to La Liga and have other experiences. But for now," he added.
Arteta also said that he is pleased to have helped Arsenal 'regain their soul' following a difficult period in the club's history.
"It started three years ago. I was Pep [Guardiola]'s assistant at [Manchester] City, we were playing Arsenal and I could see that the soul of the club had been lost," he said.
"There was no enjoyment, no feeling. I knew there was the option of, soon after, being in the other dugout and I knew that this club is so big that we had to connect the team with the fans.
"It has been hard to do and undo... but now I feel happy. We have a clear identity, there is unity and we are full of energy. That's the greatest thing. From top to bottom, everyone is pushing in the same direction. We give the fans something to dream about and be proud of. And now, we have to win more."
Arteta also opened up on Arsenal's failure to win the 2022-23 Premier League title despite leading the table for 248 days last season, with Man City ultimately finishing five points clear at the summit.
"The achievement was to win it. This is Arsenal and the standards are high. To this day, it still hurts me deep inside not to have won the Premiership after 10 months of fighting with City. But that's sport. Having said that, what we achieved with such a young team [Arsenal had the youngest squad in the Premiership] is to be applauded. That's clear to me as well," he said.
"We were penalised by those three draws we had in a row [Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton], and all the misfortunes that happened [two comebacks from two goals down]. There were three or four injuries to important players and from then on, everything got complicated.
"When we had the full team, we were consistent. As soon as problems came, it wasn't enough for us. And then our opponent was the best team in the world; the best squad in the world; the best coach in the world. We had no choice but to accept it and shake hands with the champion."
Arteta, during the same interview, also lavished praise on Kai Havertz amid suggestions that Arsenal are closing in on a £65m deal for the Chelsea forward. body check tags ::
