A jubilant Bukayo Saka hit back at Arsenal’s critics by saying “they’re not laughing at us anymore” as the club celebrated their first Premier League title in 22 years.
Arsenal players and staff gathered at their London Colney training base to watch rivals Manchester City draw 1-1 with Bournemouth, guaranteeing the Gunners their first championship since 2004 and their 14th top-flight in all, with a game to spare.
City’s draw at the Vitality Stadium on Tuesday sparked wild scenes at Arsenal’s training ground, and also outside the Emirates Stadium, where thousands of supporters gathered to toast the club’s success by lighting fireworks and flares.
Ian Wright, who scored 185 times for Arsenal and won the title in 1998, was mobbed by fans as he joined in on the party outside the club’s ground.
Arsenal, runners-up in the league for the previous three seasons, had faced accusations of “bottling” their trophy bid after they surrendered the league summit in the wake of a 2-1 defeat at City on 19 April.
But while City subsequently drew at Everton, and then at Bournemouth, Arsenal bounced back by winning their next four without conceding as Mikel Arteta – absent from the celebrations after he said he would watch the game on Tuesday night with his family – became the first former Premier League player to win the title as a manager, and claim the second trophy of his six-and-a-half-year tenure.
Arteta, who rejoined Arsenal as manager in December 2019 with the club in disarray, installed a blacked-out Premier League trophy at the club’s training base which would light up only when the Gunners were crowned champions.
“Light that up,” Saka said in footage posted by defender Jurrien Timber on his Instagram account.
“Let me tell you something. Twenty-two years, 22 years. there was laughing, there was joking, they’re not laughing anymore. Look, it is going to be shining, it is going to be shining bright.”
"22 years, they were laughing & joking, they’re not laughing anymore."
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 19, 2026
Bukayo Saka isn't holding back 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/H0u9kMoEtM
In an Instagram story, this time on Saka’s channel, Myles Lewis-Skelly is holding a champagne bottle.
“They called us bottlers,” said Lewis-Skelly, who like Saka, is a graduate of the club’s Hale End Academy. “And now we’re holding the bottle.”
Some of the players even took their celebration party to the Emirates, with Eberechi Eze posting a picture outside the stadium alongside Declan Rice, Timber and Saka, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Eze’s three Instagram slides also included a picture solely of an Arsenal-branded bottle in another jibe at the club’s detractors.
Rice, who told his team-mates at the final whistle after their defeat at City “It’s not done”, had earlier posted a picture from Arsenal’s training base alongside the caption “I told you all.. it’s done.”
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, featured in a celebratory post by the north London club.
The Frenchman, who oversaw three Premier League titles, including the 2004 ‘Invincibles’ team, said: “You did it. Champions go on when others stop. This is your time. Now, go on and enjoy every moment.”
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, who had Arteta as his assistant for two of City’s league titles, paid tribute to his fellow Spaniard.
“On behalf of everyone at Manchester City, we congratulate Mikel and all the staff, players and fans on winning the Premier League,” he told Sky Sports. “They deserve it, for so much hard work and effort.”
Arteta’s side will be presented with the trophy after their final match of the season at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Arsenal could still make it an historic double as they chase their first Champions League title against Paris St Germain in Budapest on 30 May.
PA
