Mikel Arteta is big on positive manifestation and one thing he has said this season has already come through. In the build-up to Tuesday's opening-night Champions League match against Athletic Bilbao, the Arsenal manager has been telling his players and club staff about the specific type of rain you get in the Basque country. It feels like a light rain but, within minutes, “you’re absolutely drenched”.
Arsenal employees and fans will very much know how that feels, given the curtain of water that greeted them as they arrived in Bilbao on Monday afternoon. Arteta might have been one of the few club figures happy about that. This is home.
