Cesc Fabregas played with Mikel Arteta at Arsenal (Picture: Getty)

Cesc Fabregas has hit out at Mikel Arteta’s critics for trying to get him sacked in 2021 but reminded Premier League leaders Arsenal they ‘haven’t won anything yet’.

Arteta was fighting to save his job earlier in his tenure but has turned things around magnificently to take Arsenal to the top of the Premier League, seven points clear of Manchester City going into 2023.

Arsenal are seeking to win their first league title since 2004 and extended their lead at the top of the table on New Year’s Eve with a 4-2 win over Brighton.

While Arsenal ‘haven’t won anything yet’, Fabregas insists they are ‘definitely going in the right way’ and have been vindicated in sticking with Arteta despite the calls for him to be sacked at various points.

‘If we had listened to certain people at a time when Arsenal finished eighth and not doing that well, then maybe Mikel wouldn’t be there,’ Fabregas told The Times.

‘But they gave him the time that was needed to develop his own style, his own players coming in, making his own thing.

‘Mikel was my team-mate and he helped me a lot when I was very young, he knows the game properly. They haven’t won anything yet, but they are definitely going in the right way.’

Mikel Arteta’s side are seven points clear going into 2023 (Picture: Getty)

Arteta was keen to play down Arsenal’s chances of winning the Premier League despite finishing 2022 seven points clear of defending champions Manchester City.

Before the Gunners won at Brighton, Man City dropped two points at home to relegation-battlers Everton.

‘We knew the result [of the Manchester City game], but the boost is we have to come here and win, and to do that we have to perform at the highest level in this league,’ Arteta told BBC Sport.

‘Tonight we had to have a big performance to win against a really good Brighton side. We had to dig in as well.

‘[We have] a lot of things to improve, especially in defending moments. We still have room to improve.’

Bukayo Saka, who opened the scoring for Arsenal against Brighton, added: ‘[A seven-point lead] sounds amazing.

‘Of course at the start of the season if you asked us if we wanted this, we would bite your hand off. We are really happy.

‘It is a great opportunity we have – a great place we have put ourselves in. We are not focusing on that now. We are focusing on the next game because we know how well Newcastle have been playing.’

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‘Mikel was my team-mate and he helped me a lot.’