Micah Richards warns Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and questions new signing Gabriel

Richards, a former Manchester City and England defender, has been impressed by Arteta’s reign at the Emirates, but says “this is just the beginning.”

Arteta returned to his old club last December, leaving his role as Pep Guardiola’s assistant to replace Unai Emery.

While Arsenal only finished eighth in the Premier League last season, Arteta led the club to another FA Cup triumph and has overseen an impressive start to the 2020-21 campaign.

The Gunners began their season by beating champion Liverpool in the Community Shield and have since won three of their four league games.

Richards is a big fan of Arteta, but warned the Spaniard that he should aim for a place in the top four given the quality of the Arsenal team.

“ Arsenal are in a good time, but let’s be honest: they have not lifted a side that was abandoned at the bottom of the table and taken it to unprecedented heights.

“This is Arsenal and Arteta entered a club that had one of the best strikers in the world in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, a £ 72 million winger in Nicolas Pepe; signed with Willian and has a brilliant talent in emerging Eddie Nketiah.

‘When you add that they just hired Thomas Partey, what an incredible deal that could turn out to be, Arteta has so much quality to choose from.

“Arsenal, really, should be looking in the top four.”

Despite praising Arteta’s Arsenal, Richards has revealed that he is still “upset” by the team’s defense and is unsure if Gabriel’s new signing is good enough.

Brazilian defender Gabriel, 22, has greatly impressed Arsenal following his move from Lille over the summer, but Richards is apparently not convinced.

He added: ‘The Arsenal defense still bothers me, is Gabriel the correct standard? – but it is clear that they are moving in the right direction.

“They are a long way from the peaks that Arsene Wenger brought, but the outlook is looking up. The most important thing is that no one laughs at them anymore.