Ex-Arsenal star William Gallas takes aim at Gunners over Mikel Arteta "mistake"

William Gallas has slammed Arsenal's decision to hire Mikel Arteta as their manager following the Gunners' hugely disappointing 2020-21 campaign.

Arteta replaced Unai Emery at the helm in December 2019 and enjoyed a relatively successful end to that season after guiding his side to FA Cup glory.

But Arsenal missed out on European qualification for the first time since 1995 after finishing eighth in the Premier League this time round, while they also lost in the Europa League semi-final and exited the FA Cup and Carabao Cup early.

Arteta will be under big pressure to oversee a dramatic improvement when the next season kicks off in August, but former Gunners defender Gallas does not believe he has the experience to succeed in such a big job.

Speaking to The Sun, the Frenchman said: "Mikel Arteta was not ready yet to manage a club like Arsenal.

"OK, he was assistant coach at Manchester City. But he had never managed a team. It is completely different.

"The board made a mistake picking him. I'm sure he will be a great manager but you need to have experience to manage a big club.

"To be honest, it is a great shame for the Arsenal fans after finishing eighth.

"Arsenal is not the same Arsenal we knew 18, 20 years ago. We had players who were strong with strong personalities."

Arsenal are expected to be busy in the transfer window as they look to vastly improve their squad, and they have been linked with a whole host of big names, including Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana and Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling.

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And Arteta admitted recently that wholesale changes must be made if his side are to challenge for a top four spot in the near future.

"The squad needs changing." he said. "There were already a lot of changes in December, something that has not been done in years, but it tells us where we were. Things are going to have to change and the owners are going to back it up.

"Time is catching up right now. It's a trend, it's years now that this has been happening. If the distance and the margins with the rest become too big, then it's almost impossible to do it.

"We are still on time and we have put some very strong pillars and foundations in the last few months to do what we have to do."