The midfielder was in tears after yesterday’s game
Mikel Arteta has revealed that he is leaving Arsenal because he no longer feels good enough to represent the North London side.
The Gunners’ captain played his final game for the club when they defeated Aston Villa 4-0 at the Emirates Stadium yesterday.
And the Spaniard was involved in the teams fourth and final goal; his shot hit the cross bar before the ball unfortunately ricocheted off Villa goalkeeper Mark Bunn to cross the line.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes Arteta can still play at the age of 34, but the player insists he is ’99 per cent’ retired with a coaching role at Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City on the horizon.
‘A big thank you to everybody’
“It was unbelievable because the last few months have been really difficult and I have been through a difficult position as well with my role in the team,” said Arteta.
“To have the opportunity to say goodbye and 99 per cent to say goodbye to the sport that I love is very hard, but my taste of it can’t get better than today. A big thank you to everybody.”
“It is very hard to stop but I wanted to leave it. I wanted to decide and I thought for the last few months I wasn’t good enough to represent this club on the pitch,” added the former Everton man.
