Topics: Mikel Arteta, Freddie Ljungberg, Unai Emery, Arsenal, English Premier League
The Gunners finally confirmed the worst kept secret, naming his as the true successor to Unai Emery.

The weeks of rumors and speculations have finally come to an end. Arsenal have a head coach for the first time since sacking Unai Emery back in late November.

The man to succeed the Spaniard is none other than Mikel Arteta, but this will come as a surprise to no one. The former Gunners midfielder has long been linked with the job, with confirmation of his appointment dropping today.

After spending six seasons at the Emirates Stadium, the north London giants welcomed him back to the club but this time as a coach. The former midfielder played a key role in their back-to-back FA Cup triumphs in 2014 and 2015 and will now attempt to mastermind success from the dugout.

The 37-year-old takes over from Freddie Ljungberg who was appointed as a caretaker until Emery's successor was named. Having spent three full seasons at Man City as Pep Guardiola's number two, Arteta is no stranger to silverware and in his first statement to the club and the fans, he wasted no time in stressing he wants nothing less than that for Arsenal.

"This is a huge honor," the Spaniard told the club's official website. "Arsenal is one of the biggest clubs in the world. We need to be competing for the top trophies in the game and that's been made very clear to me in my discussions with Stan and Josh Kroenke, and the senior people from the club.

"We all know there is a lot of work to be done to achieve that but I am confident we'll do it. I'm realistic enough to know it won't happen overnight but the current squad has plenty of talent and there is a great pipeline of young players coming through from the academy."

Mikel has not been confirmed as of now. Regardless, Arteta's first task is to get to know the players better and bring back the beautiful, fast-paced football that had been synonymous with the north London giants for years.

Josh Kroenke, the son of owner Stan Kroenke, expressed his gratitude toward Ljungberg for taking over while the recruitment process was underway. According to head of football Raul Sanllehi, Arsenal met with several candidates but none stood out like Arteta.

"We met several top-class candidates and Mikel stood out to every single one of us as the perfect person for us," Sanllehi stated.

"Mikel understands Arsenal Football Club and what it means to our fans around the world. We look forward to him getting down to work and bringing the best out of our squad as we work to get our season back on track."

While there had been fears of his experience, or lack thereof, this announcement was met with general optimism. Mesut Ozil, Arsenal's highest earner who used to play alongside Arteta when he was still an Arsenal player, even took to Twitter to welcome him to the Emirates Stadium. Check out the best tweets below.