Troy Deeney believes that not enough people are talking about how important Edu and some of the decision-makers at Arsenal were in helping Mikel Arteta during the early stages of his tenure.

Mikel Arteta could end the week by becoming the first boss to win the Premier League title in their first managerial job, with Arsenal boasting an outside chance of beating Manchester City on the final day of the campaign.

It has been a remarkable journey for Arteta since he was appointed by Arsenal as the permanent successor to Unai Emery in 2019, with his FA Cup win that season almost proving to be an outlier in the progress.

There have been plenty of times where Arteta, from the outside, has appeared to be on the brink of losing his job. And yet, Edu and the decision-makers at the Emirates have stuck by the Spaniard, even backing him to make some massive calls when the pressure was on.

Troy Deeney praises Edu and Arsenal hierarchy

One of those involved moving Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang out of the squad, and out of the club altogether in 2022.

At the time there were still question marks over Arteta, so it had the potential to be a decision Arsenal would rue. And speaking on Three Up Front, Troy Deeney has suggested that that faith in Arteta should see the Arsenal hierarchy receive a lot more praise.

“One thing which nobody really talks about with Arsenal is how Arsenal helped and guided him through that. They had Edu in, Edu knows him and can talk to him. And he can give you the confidence that you are our man and also [say] we are going to guide you and help you,” he said.

“He would have obviously said Aubameyang has to go, that would have been the conversation before he went and done it, and Edu would have said explain to me why, what’s your thinking.”

Gunners now reaping rewards from gamble

The challenge for the Arsenal hierarchy was that they had little evidence to back up their idea that Arteta was the right man to take the Gunners back into title contention, given that it was his first job as a number one.

Of course, he had a fantastic CV having worked closely with Pep Guardiola. But there were fewer guarantees than normal that the appointment was going to work out.

Arsenal’s patience has been rewarded in some style. It may not be this season, but Arsenal look set to win a number of trophies over the next few years – thanks to the foundations which they put in place around the time Arteta was appointed.