Mikel Arteta insists it is “super early” in the season to be discussing who the Premier League title contenders are.
The Spaniard’s Arsenal side currently sit third in the table, level with second-place Manchester City on 14 points and just one behind leaders Liverpool.
The Gunners finished as runners-up in both of the last two seasons, losing out to City by just two points last term and by five points in 2022/23.
But Arteta believes much more of the season will have been played before it becomes clear which teams are going to battle it out for the title this time.
“No, it’s super early”, he said, when asked whether it could be a three-horse race between Arsenal, City and Liverpool.
“For me, we just started it. But you can feel already the tension, the importance of every match. But we are just in early October.”
The Gunners host Southampton on Saturday, when they will come up against Aaron Ramsdale. He left Arsenal for the Saints this summer following three years in north London.
The England goalkeeper lost his place as Arteta’s No1 last season when Arsenal signed David Raya from Brentford on an initial loan deal, before making it permanent and selling Ramsdale.
“I called him straight away after I got the news [of his move to Southampton],” Arteta said of Ramsdale. “He was really happy. He is a player we love a lot. Very charismatic. He really put his fingerprints here in the way he was. And it will be very nice to see him.
“I was very grateful for what he did. When we signed him, there was a lot of noise around him. We helped him to create the environment that he needed, because we believed in his potential. He showed it. He won the respect and admiration of all of us.
“Then the circumstances changed, because this is elite sport and it can happen. Then it was difficult to deal with that situation in a natural way. We decided to part ways. Hopefully he is grateful as well.”
