David Moyes believes Mikel Arteta has the potential to become a Premier League title-winning manager, but played down Arsenal’s chances of lifting the trophy this season.
The Gunners moved seven points clear at the top of the table with a 3-1 victory over Moyes’ West Ham on Boxing Day, picking up where they left off before the World Cup break.
Arteta’s men missed out on a top-four finish last season, faltering in the run-in when holding the advantage over rivals Tottenham, and the scale of their improvement this season has come as a surprise to many, even accounting for significant summer investment.
Defending champions Manchester City can close the gap back to five points when they play Leeds on Tuesday, however, and Moyes believes Pep Guardiola’s side remain the team to beat.
“I think Mikel might go on to be one,” Moyes said, when asked whether a player he once coached at Everton could become a title-winning manager. “Do I think they’re going to win it this year? I’m not sure.
“I think you’d be remiss if you don’t think of Man City. You’d be doing them down. They’ve got a fantastic team and there’ll be other teams that are a bit more used to being around the top, maybe a Liverpool later on.
“Not to say that Mikel isn’t building a side capable but I think he’ll know that Man City will be the ones. They’ll come here and they’ll keep the ball off Arsenal.
“Arsenal kept the ball off us tonight, Man City will come here and keep the ball off Arsenal and it’ll become a different type of game for them.”
