What Mikel Arteta and Josh Kroenke did after title heartbreak to inspire fresh Arsenal challenge

Mikel Arteta has revealed that the Arsenal squad shifted their focus to winning this season's Premier League title the very evening they missed out on last season's trophy.

Despite scoring a record number of goals and recording a record number of wins, the Gunners were pipped to a first league crown in 20 years by Manchester City on the final day of last season. This prompted emotional scenes on the Emirates Stadium pitch at full time, with Kai Havertz in tears at the whistle.

Just hours later the Gunners squad reconvened for a meal at a central London venue with their families, club staff and Josh Kroenke all in attendance. Players are understood to have begun planning their assault on this season's title that same night.

"Yeah, it was the same evening [as the Everton game]," Arteta said of the gathering in his press conference ahead of Arsenal's Premier League opener with Wolves. "Everybody was talking about the same thing, that we are not going to stop here and that we want much more.

"We know the things that we can still do better and how the players can still evolve. How we have evolved as a club is huge as well. How we feel playing at Emirates Stadium is another one [of the areas we have evolved]. Those margins are huge and we have to really, really use them."

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Arsenal will be looking to stop City retaining the trophy for a fifth year in a row. In order to do so though, they will likely have to become the first side in Premier League history to improve their points tally for five consecutive seasons. Arteta though, is relishing the challenge.

"Very excited," he said of the task facing his side. "It’s like you’re trying to climb the highest mountain, in the most difficult league in the world and you’re surrounded by people trying to achieve the same ambition. We’re certainly gonna try."