Thomas Frank claims Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has transformed the Gunners into title contenders

Brentford boss Thomas Frank has hailed Mikel Arteta and believes the Spaniard has transformed the Gunners into Premier League title contenders this season.

Arsenal have won five out of their first six games after they finished fifth last year and narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification.

They travel to west London to face Brentford on Sunday, 13 months on from a damaging 2-0 defeat to the Bees in what was their first-ever game in the Premier League. 

Thomas Frank claims Mikel Arteta has turned Arsenal into Premier League title contenders

And their boss Frank has insisted Arsenal have already overtaken top six rivals Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham as the nearest challengers to Manchester City in the title race this season

He said: ‘In spells they’ve been the best performing team over the first six games.

‘I think they’ve been remarkable, especially the intensity. I’ve watched a lot of their games, but their first game, the Friday night opening game against Crystal Palace, I was thinking “what? This is another level”.

It is 13 months since Arsenal endured a humiliating 2-0 defeat away at Brentford

‘For the first 20 minutes Crystal Palace didn’t touch the ball, and I thought “they can win the Premier League”.

‘Now, after City, they are the best performing team in the league.’

Since arriving at Arsenal in December 2019, Arteta has overseen a significant rebuild on and off the field. 

Under the Spaniard’s watch, the Gunners have brought in several talented young players, and Arteta has built a vibrant Arsenal team.

He has had to endure turbulence, including their collapse at the back-end of last season to miss out on the Champions League, along with the well-publicised fall-out with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Arteta has overseen a significant rebuild on and off the field at Arsenal since December 2019

However, Frank insisted Arteta deserves huge credit for the way he has transformed the whole club.

He said: ‘Mikel Arteta and his coaching staff have proved they have done well. And the board behind him, they are consistent in the way that they work.

‘They are building a team that’s young, very exciting, and that has key players in good positions. So he’s done a top job.

‘He’s completed a transition from the former manager, he’s created his own culture, and he’s got rid of some players and brought in his own.

‘I look at a team, are they good or bad, are they structured, are they playing with the intensity and personality – and I 100 per cent see that.

‘I can see Arteta in that team, from my view of him as a person, I see him in the team.

‘And that’s how I judge him, instead of a few clips from an Amazon episode, and I think that’s the biggest praise from a coach to another coach, when you look and say “you know what? They look good”.’