“He’ll leave them just like van Persie and Thierry Henry”: Premier League pundit believe important Arsenal man betray them if they failed to win the league title this season

Rio Ferdinand boldly declared that Mikel Arteta would “100%” leave Arsenal for Manchester United. According to the former central defender, Arteta would be interested in the role if Man United replaced Erik ten Hag in the summer.

Arteta has been with the Gunners since December 2019, and his team are fighting for the Premier League title for the second year in a row. With an impressive run of six straight wins and 25 goals scored in that period, Arsenal are hot on the heels of leaders Liverpool and defending champions Manchester City.

Despite Arsenal topping the Premier League title race and preparing for the Champions League Round of 16 second leg against Porto, Arteta is not actively looking for a new job. But with United in a state of turmoil following the takeover by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS team, Ferdinand has speculated about a possible move to Manchester for the Spanish manager.

“Arteta would 100 per cent leave Arsenal and come to Man United,” Ferdinand told FIVE, “Nobody is saying it’s going to happen, but if Man United in their wildest dreams said ‘you know what, Erik ten Hag, please’, or if Erik ten Hag was attracted by Bayern Munich and went there and Man United said ‘right, Mikel Arteta is top of our list’, Arteta would come [to Arsenal] and say ‘listen guys, it’s been emotional, but I have to move, and I have to go’.”

Arteta, who is currently under contract with Arsenal until the end of the 2024/25 season, has expressed his satisfaction in north London. He responded to rumours linking him with a move to Barcelona when Xavi Hernandez leaves the club this summer by saying: “This is completely false news. What you read yesterday… I don’t know where it comes from and it’s completely untrue. I’m really upset about this.

“I couldn’t believe it. I don’t know where it comes from and it has no source. It has nothing and I think we have to be very careful when we talk about personal things to say it in the way it was said yesterday.

“I’m in the right place. I’m with the right people. It feels really good. And as I have said many times, I am involved in a wonderful journey with this football club, with these players, this staff, our people, and there is much, much more to do.

“We all share this ambition and it also feels like we want more, that we are not satisfied and that the club wants to take another step and another level in everything we do, we are here. To achieve that we need everyone on board and I’m definitely on board.”

When asked about his contract, he said: “I think I have a good relationship with the board, with [sporting director] Edu, with Tim [Lewis, vice-president], with the owners and things go naturally. We’ve always worked that way and it’s worked well. When the time is right, we will talk and think about the best way to do it.”