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Mikel Arteta dismissed the suggestion he is interested in taking the Paris Saint-Germain job, insisting he is committed to Arsenal.
Arteta has been among those managers linked with potentially taking over at the Parc des Princes should Mauricio Pochettino leave at the end of the season.
Pochettino’s time in the French capital has been somewhat underwhelming so far, with PSG crashing out of the Champions League last week after capitulating against Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, Arteta, who spent a season on loan at PSG from Barcelona in 2001-02, seems to have finally bedded in his methods at Arsenal, with the Gunners in pole position to secure a top-four spot and Champions League qualification.
Asked about the rumours ahead of Wednesday’s clash with title challengers Liverpool, Arteta said: “Very simple, that I am extremely happy here and I’m grateful that it’s where I am.”
Arteta’s team face a stern test of their quality against Jurgen Klopp’s team, who have won their last eight Premier League matches.
Arsenal, however, have won their last five, joining Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea as the only other top-flight teams to manage such a run of victories in the competition so far this season.
Since losing their opening home game of the Premier League season, Arsenal have only lost one of their following 13 league games at Emirates Stadium this term (W10 D2), but Arteta knows the standards must remain high.
“This is never going to stop, this is a constant revolution,” he added.
“In the history of the Premier League, there never existed this level of playing and competition so we don’t know where that limit is so every plan that we do is with players and people with the mentality that this is going to keep the will going, that this is never going to be good enough and to do that you need to get people that are aligned with this ambition.”
While Arsenal head into their contest with Liverpool in good form, recent history is not on their side. They were hammered 4-0 at Anfield in November and lost to the Reds over two legs in their EFL Cup semi-final.
Arsenal’s record against the other “big six” sides this season is also disappointing, with only three points taken from six such fixtures so far – that win coming against north London rivals Tottenham. Indeed, the Gunners have conceded 17 goals in those matches, scoring just six times in return.
