Arsenal director Josh Kroenke is confident manager Mikel Arteta has the team's rebuild on track.
Kroenke flew in for the appointment of Arteta in December 2019 and then did not manage to get back again until the final game of last season, in May this year. In his absence, Arsenal have won the FA Cup, finished eighth twice — their lowest-placed finishes since 1995 — and failed to qualify for Europe for the first time in 26 years.
"That was the most frustrating part for me, not being able to get over," he told the Daily Mail. "Mikel and I were having lunch together the other day and we were laughing, [because] he said: 'I feel like this is my first real season in charge'. And I said: 'It is! You came in December 2019 and I was only able to get over here [then]'.
"One of the things he and I spoke about was changing the culture. To use a metaphor of a house, the legendary Arsene Wenger had built Arsenal Football Club into one of the most beautiful houses you had ever seen. Over time that house has different people inside and out and over time every house needs to be renovated.
"When I sat down with Mikel, all he talked about was culture. He wanted to build on the foundations that Arsene had laid and the great people that had come before him. And also to help renovate the house back into a beautiful modern-day home that our fans can be proud of and you're starting to see those foundations are really taking shape and he's renovating the Arsenal home in a beautiful way. Hopefully, whether that's one year, three years or five years, it's going to become a home all Arsenal fans are proud of."
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