Mikel Arteta finally got his hands on the Premier League trophy after three successive second-placed finishes. Arsenal won the 2025-26 title by seven points, ending a 22-year wait to take the trophy back to north London.

Despite being up against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City machine, the Gunners led the way for almost the entire season and were able to celebrate with their travelling support after a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace. Martin Odegaard became the club’s first captain to lift the iconic silverware since Patrick Vieira at the end of the ‘Invincibles’ campaign.

That 2003-04 Arsenal team is among the best in the division’s history and there will now be an argument made by some that the current Gunners squad are qualified to be in that conversation. However, Arteta snubbed both when naming the ‘best in Premier League history’.

Mikel Arteta Overlooks Arsenal as Premier League’s Greatest Side

As mentioned, Arsenal have suffered heartbreak in the last three Premier League seasons. First, they had back-to-back second-place finishes behind Man City in 2022-23 and 2023-24, then they were runners-up to Arne Slot’s Liverpool in 2024-25.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the trophy lift at Selhurst Park, Arteta explained how hard it was to get over the line with talented teams pushing them all the way. He said: “We had to raise our level because you have opposition who are constantly asking that question of you.”

He went one step further when discussing the team chasing them this term. The Spaniard labelled Man City as the best team in the division’s history, and Guardiola as world football’s top manager, saying:

That would put the Citizens ahead of Sir Alex Ferguson’s iconic Manchester United teams and Jurgen Klopp’s relentless Liverpool side. However, the period of dominance the men in sky blue have enjoyed under Guardiola is hard to argue with.

Arteta had first-hand experience of the juggernaut built at the Etihad over Guardiola’s 10-year spell as he worked as the Catalan-born tactician’s assistant manager. The first team to win the Premier League four times in a row and achieve 100 points in a single term are undeniably up there.

Arteta Doubted His Ability to Win the League With Arsenal

Despite getting his team over the line, the 44-year-old has admitted he did have moments where he didn’t know if he was the right man to bring the title home. He was very honest as he claimed he now feels relief at finally getting it done.

He said: “There are doubts… I think doubts and an understanding that maybe, OK, I’ve been able to take them all the way here but maybe somebody else has to come and do the final job. But thank God. I feel a lot of joy and honestly a little bit of relief.

“I can control certain things but there are many things that are out of your hands, and that’s why you need the best people around you. Sometimes when you doubt yourself, to have people as well next to you to say, no, we’re going to do it and we’re going to do it with you.”

Nine years, 378 appearances and eight major trophies. Andy Robertson’s time at Liverpool is over, and the Scotland international said goodbye in a manner that’s earned him praise and admiration from supporters of Liverpool’s rivals.

Robertson will join Mohamed Salah in leaving the Reds this summer, bringing an end to an era that delivered a Champions League, and both of Liverpool’s Premier League titles. Their departures leave only Vigil van Dijk and Alisson as the only players still in the Liverpool fold today who started their Champions League final victory in 2019.

Robertson is almost certainly staying put in the Premier League and joining Tottenham, now that they’ve survived relegation, whilst Salah is highly tipped to be moving out of England to the Turkish Super Lig.

Andy Robertson’s Tribute to Rivals in Last Interview

Robertson started in Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Brentford on the final day of the Premier League season and was brought off in the 83rd minute, with Anfield full of applause for the Scot.

His post-match interview with Sky Sports alongside Salah wasn’t what most people expected. Rather than focusing solely on his own departure, Robertson used the platform to pay tribute to two other figures also leaving English football on the same day:

“For me, there are two other people leaving clubs today that are pretty important,” Robertson said.

Guardiola is set to leave City after ten years at the Etihad, a decade in which he turned Manchester City into the dominant force in English football. Guardiola will take up a role as an ambassador for the City Football Group, which owns Manchester City, highlighting that he won’t be going back into management for “a while.”

Robertson also took a moment to acknowledge Everton captain Seamus Coleman, another long-serving figure stepping away from top-flight football, in what was a genuinely warm and generous interview from a player who had every right to make it purely about himself.

The Reaction of Premier League Fans to Robertson’s Tribute

The interview struck a chord with supporters across the country, and the response on social media reflected it. A Manchester United fan admitted: “Never been a huge fan of Robertson but he’s earned my respect with that.”

A Manchester City supporter wrote: “This is absolutely class from Andy Robertson. The respect between City and Liverpool, Pep and Klopp & the players is incredible. It’s the end of perhaps the greatest rivalry the Premier League has seen, purely on the kind of football both teams played. You’ll never see it again.” And another summed him up as a “class act.”

Even Everton supporters, for whom Robertson has been a familiar pantomime villain over the years, found themselves won over. “This immediate face-turn from him as soon as he’s leaving them has left me quite astounded to be honest. He’s the one of theirs that I’ve hated the most all these years.” Another, more simply, offered: “Class act. Respect.”

A Liverpool supporter perhaps put it best: “What a guy Robbo is. A true professional and proper sound lad. What a privilege it has been to watch him play for Liverpool.”

Sporting history will be made in Las Vegas this weekend as the very ever Enhanced Games takes place in Sin City.

The controversial event will see athletes from multiple disciplines, including track and field, competing while being permitted to openly use performance-enhancing drugs [PEDs].

Unsurprisingly, there has been plenty of concern over whether it is safe (or ethical) to encourage athletes to use substances which could be damaging to their long-term health.

Enhanced Games Rules Explored

While the Enhanced Games has been marketed as an ‘anything goes’ competition, there are limits on what athletes can use to help their performance.

Only substances approved by America’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are allowed to be taken. However, it still means many drugs that are banned at Olympic level can be taken without penalty, including:

• Testosterone and anabolics (i.e. methenolone and nandrolone).
• Hormones and growth factors (i.e. human growth hormone and EPO).
• Metabolic modulators (i.e. meldonium and or stimulants).

However, the idea of being able to compete without being drug tested isn’t the only potential appeal to athletes who aren’t against ‘juicing’ [the act of taking PEDs].

Among notable names to compete in the debut edition of the games are Hafthor ‘The Mountain’ Bjornsson and two-time Olympic 100m medal winner Fred Kerley.

In addition, the Enhanced Games will also offer significantly higher prize money than that which is on offer at the Olympic Games. Notably, every athlete who competes in Vegas this weekend will receive some financial reward, no matter where they place.

World Athletics only started awarding prize money to Olympic gold medal winners at Paris 2024, with $50,000 on offer to those who scooped first place in any given event.

That sum is the same amount that the Enhanced Games will pay to athletes who finish in fourth place – and the cash on offer only grows for higher finishes.

The Prize Money at the Enhanced Games Compared to the Olympics

Those who place third will bank $75,000, with second-place being worth $125,000. An Enhanced Games gold medal, meanwhile, will guarantee its recipient $250,000 – five times more than is available to Olympic champions.

There’s even more financial incentives up for grabs in certain events, as well. In selected disciplines, such as the 100-metre sprint, there is a $250,000 bonus available to any athlete who betters a current world record.

These ‘world records’ won’t count officially because of the rules surrounding PEDs at the Enhanced Games. However, any athlete that manages to surpass a record in a relevant event will receive an eye-watering $250,000 bonus on top of their prize money.

Granted, the Enhanced Games doesn’t yet come with the same sponsorship opportunities (which is where many high-profie stars earn the majority of their income), but it’s easy to see why the Donald Trump Jr-backed project is making waves.