Former Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna has praised his old teammate Mikel Arteta for bringing "peace" to the club after a period of turbulence.
Despite the Gunners' lowly league position, Arteta has seemingly managed to steady the ship as it appears his side are now back on track following their difficult start to the campaign.
But perhaps more important is Arteta's ability to recultivate the club behind the scenes in light of Arsene Wenger's departure after 22 years at the helm, as well as Unai Emery's troubled reign.
Arteta's spell in the hot seat has not been without issue either, but Sagna feels the club are at least now heading back in the right direction.
"Of course it’s not perfect because whenever someone like Arsene Wenger leaves a club, it's always difficult to replace him," Sagna told Goal .
"It’s just going to take time and we just have to trust the process. I think Mikel is doing a great job."
Sagna likened Arsenal's recent difficulties to that of rivals Manchester United, who struggled in the immediate years following Sir Alex Ferguson's departure.
Wenger's tenure ended with bitterness from large sections of the Arsenal support, while his successor Emery never truly endeared himself to the club's supporters despite a decent first campaign in charge.
Since then Arteta has had to weather several storms, including Granit Xhaka's future at the club, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's contract standoff, and the Mesut Ozil saga, but Sagna now feels the dust in North London has begun to settle.
"He took a team in a difficult situation. Unai Emery had a tough period at the end of his spell at Arsenal and the club was in bad shape," the ex-Gunners full-back added.
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“I remember saying it was like a circus, because to me it was. It’s one of the best clubs in the world, but it was not run perfectly.
“Mikel managed to bring some peace to the club, he managed to bring some confidence to the players and you can see the mentality of the players is great.
“You can see the shape of the team, they try to play, not kick out the ball. They have a meaning behind everything they are doing and I respect that."
