Officially unveiled on December 22, 2019, the Spaniard returned to the club he once served as a player, looking to improve upon the tenure of Unai Emery, who had become something of a fall guy, being the man who followed Arsene Wenger into the Emirates Stadium hot-seat.
Arsenal aren't serial trophy winners under Arteta
Arteta already had buy-in from the moment he took the job, thanks to a connection with the club and supporters that Emery just didn't have.
And yet, here we are, 71 months into his reign, and the Gunners are yet to become serial winners of any silverware.
The attractiveness of the football isn't in question as the North Londoners are one of the most pleasing teams in Europe to watch when they're in full flow.
Nor is the backing from a board who have consistently supported Arteta in whatever he's asked of them.
However, where does the line get drawn?
How much longer, realistically, does the manager have to ensure that his team defines an era?
A squad to be proud of
When Arteta left the relative comfort of being Pep Guardiola's assistant and Man City, it was to build something special in North London.
Not only a team to be proud of, but one to rival The Invincibles and double winners.
With players such as Declan Rice, William Saliba, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard in situ, there can be no argument as to how much Arteta has improved the quality on the pitch, but that hasn't translated into trophies that will ultimately underscore his time at the club.
It surely wouldn't have been in his thinking that, as we head towards 2026, Arsenal would've only won two Community Shields after an FA Cup triumph at the end of his first half-season in the job.
183 wins in 307 games
In his 307 matches in charge in all competitions to date, Arteta has overseen 183 wins, 57 draws and 67 losses, using 81 players across the past few seasons.
Only 14 goalless draws in that time is an indicator of just what an exciting team Arsenal are to watch, and 100 home wins in just over six full seasons is impressive.
Arteta will also point to a win percentage that's never dropped below 50% during his time as manager as the perfect riposte to those who suggest that he's already overstayed his welcome in the red and white half of North London.
Just one loss, two draws and 14 wins from Arsenal's 17 games in all competitions this season is a start that other teams can only aspire to, though even with such a record, the Gunners are only four points ahead of serial Premier League winners, Man City, at this stage.
Man City will hunt Arsenal down
Guardiola and his team are experts at putting long, unbeaten runs together and hunting down teams at the summit of the English top-flight.
A relentless juggernaut of a squad, they will ensure that the North Londoners must continue to perform at the very highest levels if they want to maintain, or even extend, that points distance over the coming weeks to give themselves some breathing space.
Considering the injuries that Arteta has had to contend with - and currently the squad are without Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus - the Spaniard and his backroom staff deserve kudos for having worked wonders in keeping Arsenal super competitive.
The acid test will likely come early in the new year when domestic and European fixtures come thick and fast.
Set piece excellence
A current 82.3% win percentage will, in all likelihood, trend downwards during that period; however, the Gunners do appear to be made of sterner stuff this season.
Beating Burnley recently was their fifth consecutive match without conceding a goal in the Premier League, and once they'd triumphed 3-0 over Slavia Prague in the Champions League, that result gave Arsenal an eighth successive clean sheet in all competitions, equalling a club record set from April to October 1903 - 122 years ago.
There appears to have been an improvement in 2025/26 in many other aspects of their play too, not least in their set-piece abilities that have caused untold problems for opposition teams.
Arsenal have scored 11 so far in 2025/26, and no other team in the English top-flight has more.
Perhaps that intoxicating mixture of physicality and beautiful football is finally what will get the North Londoners over the line in terms of a trophy win this season, and in so doing, will prolong Mikel Arteta's tenure at the club for a while yet.
Fail again, and there's a reasonable enough argument that the Gunners will always be the nearly men under the Spaniard.
