Arsenal ended a 22-year wait for the title after Manchester City were held to a 1-1 draw by Bournemouth on Tuesday, a result that confirmed Mikel Arteta's side as Premier League champions.
Arteta, speaking to Tom Hiddleston for Sky Sports News ahead of Arsenal's final game against Crystal Palace, said the win was something he had pictured many times — and that the belief crystallised late in the season. "I imagined winning it many times," he said. "Especially because we've been very close in a few seasons."
The numbers underline the moment: a 22-year drought ended, following three consecutive second-placed finishes, and sealed when Manchester City were held to a 1-1 draw by Bournemouth.
Arteta told Sky Sports News that his mindset shifted in the spring. "But this time, especially, there was something. I've done a lot of visualisation over the last few months," he said. "I could close my eyes and I could get to that picture immediately, and that was different to the other seasons." He said the images began to take hold "Not from the beginning of the season, it was more around March, April when I started that."
That change, Arteta said, was decisive. "I knew that was the moment that was going to define the season," he said, adding he pictured himself lifting the trophy: "It was a picture of myself lifting the trophy. That was it."
Context matters here: Arsenal had finished second in three consecutive seasons before finally claiming the title. Manchester City had pushed the race close enough that it threatened to go to the wire; it was City's draw with Bournemouth that ultimately confirmed Arsenal as champions.
The friction in the story is clear in Arteta's own account. He acknowledged the visualisation came late — "Not from the beginning of the season, it was more around March, April when I started that" — even though the club's recent near-misses made belief hard to sustain. "I think I had to believe in myself to be able to transmit that conviction and energy to the team," he said, suggesting the psychological turn in March and April was as important as any tactical adjustment.
All of this plays out again on Sunday. Arsenal's final game against Crystal Palace, and the club's trophy lift, were scheduled to be shown live on Sky Sports at 4pm. Arteta's image of lifting the trophy — the moment he says he rehearsed in his head — will now be staged in front of the players and fans he tried to move with conviction.
For now, the conclusion is straightforward: Arsenal's title was confirmed by Manchester City's 1-1 draw, and Arteta's late-season visualisation, which began around March and April, is the explanation he gives for how the club turned three near-misses into a championship. The remaining factual step is the ceremony itself on Sunday at 4pm, when the trophy lift will be shown live on Sky Sports.
