Where does he rank?
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When Mikel Arteta arrived at Arsenal in December of 2019, the club was a mess. The Gunners has finished outside of the Champions League places for the last three seasons, the squad was littered with ageing unmotivated stars on big-money contracts, and the culture was more about ‘vibes’ than standards and success. A huge rebuild was needed. And it had to get a lot worse before it got better.
Despite winning the FA Cup in his first full season in charge, Arsenal finished in eighth in both of Arteta’s first two seasons at the club, and there was huge pressure for him to be sacked at points. Nevertheless, the Spaniard remarkably came through that, and given the freedom of time and being heavily backed financially by the club, now has Arsenal competing at the top. If not yet getting over the line. The Gunners are currently top of the Premier League, topped the Champions League table, and remain in both domestic cups.
Arsenal beat Kairat Almaty in their final league phase game, and in that, Arteta celebrated his 200th win as boss of the club – just over six years on from being appointed. In doing so, the 43-year-old became just the 34th manager to hit that milestone at a top-five league club. But where does he rank among those who achieved that feat in the fewest games? Let’s find out. Due to the data available, we have included matches in all competitions, and only from when the current top-five leagues were formed in their current format, so for example the Premier League since the 1992/93 season.
Quickest managers to 200 wins at one top-5 league club
Leading the way as the quickest manager to 200 wins is Pep Guardiola (who actually celebrated his 400th win as Manchester City manager this week). The Spaniard incredibly achieved this feat in just 268 games for Man City between 2016-2021. Second place goes to Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid who racked up 200 wins in 276 matches across two spells in charge at the club. Massimiliano Allegri takes third, having reached 200 wins at Juventus in 287 games. Fourth really rewinds the clocks, with legendary Real Madrid manager Miguel Muñoz reaching 200 wins with Los Blancos in 289 games between 1959-1966.
in fifth spot is Jupp Heynckes who racked up 200 wins at Bayern Munich in 309 games across three managerial spells and four decades between 1987-2017. José Mourinho at Chelsea takes sixth – also managing the feat in 309 games. Atlético Madrid’s Diego Simeone is seventh with 200 wins in 319 games. Two old Bayern managers take eighth and ninth in Udo Lattek (321 games) and Ottmar Hitzfeld (324 games).
Arteta finds himself 10th on the list having reached 200 wins in just 325 games as Arsenal manager. That puts the Gunners boss ahead of the likes of Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool (330 games), Johan Cruyff at Barcelona (336 games), Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in the Premier League era (337 games), Ancelotti at AC Milan (347 games) and even Arsène Wenger at Arsenal (350 games). The trophies haven’t started coming yet at the Emirates under Arteta, but his record suggests that it won’t be long until they do.
As illustrated in the graphic above, the other 17 managers to achieve 200 wins with a top-five league club include Giovanni Trapattoni at Juventus (363 games), Gian Piero Gasperini at Atalanta (385 games), Ernesto Valverde at Athletic Club (421 games), and David Moyes at Everton (470 games). All this won’t matter one jot to Arteta though if his Arsenal team are unable to get over the line and win some major trophies this season.
