Arteta backs Klopp move as Arsenal boss insists Liverpool chief is "spot on"
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says English football owes Jurgen Klopp a huge debt of gratitude.
Arteta says the Liverpool boss has made the Premier League “much better” with his personality, success with Liverpool and his remarkable energy. Klopp announced last week that he is quitting Liverpool at the end of the season because he had run out of energy and needed a break.
The Gunners boss said: “I think he’s made this league much better. First of all, the person. The character, the charisma, the ideas and his passion for the game is something special. I think he’s had a big contribution for the growth of this league.
“Then I love the way he did it. When you see the emotion that he put in and you see that human side, explaining the reasons behind his decision and the challenges and everything that is related to our job, I think he was spot on.
“When someone has done what he’s done for that football club and the league you have to respect that and basically say thank you because I think he made this league much better, he made every manager better and he’s made the league much more beautiful and intense.”
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Arteta says he can understand why Klopp has felt the need to step away after such a long managerial career with Mainz, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool. Klopp said he would never manage another English team and Arteta admitted he could not yet give that guarantee if he one day left Arsenal.
Arteta, 41, added: “Today, no. But I don’t know. I played for two great clubs in this country. I moved around in different things. I am extremely young and I don’t know what’s going to happen.
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Arteta also denied claims that he is considering leaving Arsenal (Getty Images)“I understand that after a lot of years – I think with Jurgen it was 24 years doing different jobs in different countries - it is something that naturally happens.”
Arteta has also been forced to deny reports of his own departure in the summer. The Gunners boss has been linked with the Barcelona job after Xavi announced his resignation, but Arteta furiously denied those claims.
"That’s totally fake news. What you read yesterday, I don’t know where it’s coming from. It’s totally untrue and I’m really upset about it. I don’t know where it’s coming from, it’s got no sources, it’s got nothing," he said.
"I think we have to be very cautious when we talk about personal things, to put it in the way that it was put yesterday. I’m in the right place. I’m with the right people, I feel really good about it.
"As I said many times, I’m immersed in a beautiful journey with this football club, these players, this staff and our people and I’m investing still a lot for them. I’ve got a strong relationship with the board, with Edu, the team, with ownership.
"There is a lot to do here as well, we all share that ambition, and you can feel it as well that we want more. We’re not satisfied, and the club wants to take another push and another level in everything that we’re doing. This is where we are, everybody on board to achieve it and I’m certainly on board."
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