Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta has been named the new captain of the Gunners, having spent the last two seasons as vice-captain behind Thomas Vermaelen, who left for Barcelona earlier in the week.
Arteta, who joined the Gunners in 2011 from Everton, has made 135 appearances for the club, scoring 15 goals in the process. After spending the majority of last season as captain whilst Vermaelen was injured, it comes as no surprise that Arteta was promoted from his previous role.
Arséne Wenger also announced that Per Mertesacker, who will return to training with Arsenal on Monday after his nation's World Cup victory, will be vice-captain to Arteta. Mertesacker took the captain's armband when neither Mikel Arteta or Thomas Vermaelen were chosen in the squad last season.
Mikel Arteta is no stranger to captaining a side, having previously been captain under the management of David Moyes at Everton, as the club went through one of the more successful periods in their recent history.
The process of selecting captains appears to be consistent with Arsenal now, with Thomas Vermaelen taking the captaincy from Robin van Persie two years ago after being the vice-captain for the season before, and Arteta now taking over Vermaelen, who he played vice-captain to before the defender's departure.
