Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is backing Arsenal to challenge for the Premier League title under Mikel Arteta in the not too distant future.
Arsenal, despite bumps in the road, have shown encouraging signs in their first seven months under Arteta's stewardship, with the club looking to turn itself back into the formidable force it used to be just a few years ago.
Arteta, formerly a player at the Emirates Stadium, of course, is looking to change the philosophy in North London and put his own stamp of authority on the squad he inherited from former Gunners boss Unai Emery, who was sacked last December.
Though there is still an awful lot of work for Arteta and the Arsenal board to do before they can even start to think about the idea of being title challengers again, Reds boss Klopp, who will be looking to extend Liverpool's unbeaten run against the Gunners to 11 matches when the two sides go head-to-head at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday evening, is confident that they will be able to compete at the very top of the Premier League table in the future.
Klopp, addressing the media on Tuesday lunchtime ahead of Wednesday's clash in the capital, told the Liverpool Echo: "Unfortunately probably yes [they will challenge in the future].
"They are really exciting to watch, you can see the ideas, influence by Pep [Guardiola] who worked with him [Arteta]. You can see a massive influence.
"An exciting squad with experienced, offensive players."
Klopp also went onto say that Arteta is a "very exciting" manager.
"Mikel is part of very exciting new manager generation," Klopp continued. "Really exciting to watch.
"You can see the ideas, influenced by Pep. Mikel would have had the same ideas when he was a player.
"Arsenal are a really exciting squad."
