It’s fair to say there’s no love lost between Arsenal fans and Jose Mourinho.
The ‘Special One’ spent years winding up the Emirates faithful during his two separate stints at Chelsea and had a notably fierce rivalry with Arsene Wenger. To make matters worse, Mourinho took charge of Tottenham in 2019 before his dismissal two years later.
Now Real Madrid manager for the second time, his latest comments from his press conference this week will do little to endear him to the red half of north London.
Jose Mourinho suggests Mikel Arteta wouldn’t get time at Real Madrid
Of course, Mikel Arteta signed a new contract with Arsenal until 2030 this week, and in his comments around the extension, spoke about how the project feels like it is ‘just the beginning’ despite having been at the club for seven years.
Mikel Arteta and Arsene Wenger
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It shows the ambition of the club is to lead a dynasty and add to the Premier League title won last season. The boss is essentially saying they’re not done, and are hungry for more silverware.
Mourinho has compared that to the scenario he sees himself in right now, with some pressure mounting on him amid some mixed results for Real Madrid.
“I read something interesting yesterday — something that could never happen at Real Madrid,” he said. “Mikel Arteta renewed his contract and said something like ‘we are still starting’ and ‘this is just the beginning’ and he has been there for years. The demands here [at Madrid] are simply different.”
People will read into that in different ways but on the surface it does feel like a fairly transparent dig at the Arsenal manager. The suggestion being that Arteta’s language of patience and process, of building something over time, would not be tolerated at the Bernabeu. That Real Madrid’s demands are delivering ‘now’ and are incompatible with the kind of long-term project Arsenal have afforded their manager.
To be fair, he’s not entirely wrong. But that is a testament to how smart Arsenal were to be patient with their man. It has quite evidently paid off, in tenfold.
Mikel Arteta will face Jose Mourinho later this year
Mourinho’s Real Madrid visit the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday, 9 December in the Champions League, in a fixture that comes with several juicy subplots.
Arsenal demolished Madrid 5-1 on aggregate in the 2024-25 campaign, most memorably through Declan Rice’s stunning double free-kick in the home leg. Remarkably, Madrid have never beaten Arsenal in competitive football.
Vinicius Jr, who came within touching distance of signing for Arsenal in the summer, will also be in the visiting squad. Whether he will even be on the pitch at the Emirates given his form at the moment remains to be seen.
Arteta has faced Mourinho three times before, all during the Portuguese’s time at Tottenham, with Arteta winning two and Mourinho winning the other.