Every word Mikel Arteta said on Nketiah's future, expiring contracts, Europa League and Everton

We did what we had to do, we knew that it wasn’t in our hands, we knew we needed a miracle and it didn’t occur, that’s it. The league table at the end of the season doesn’t lie. It’s true that last year with 67 points Chelsea got into the Champions League and we have 69 and we are out of it but that’s the level and the demands has this league has now.

Well, we tried to give the fans everything they deserve for everything they’ve done for us and how much they have helped to come much further as a club and as a team. I cannot assess the season today, I’m sorry, I’m still in a lot of pain after what happened on Monday. I cannot give a fair assessment on what we’ve done. What I can guarantee is that we’ve tried to squeeze the lemon as much as we can for every single drop and we reached the point we reached.

I know, I think we all know - and you can see the reaction of the fans towards the team - that you can see what we have on the pitch and what this club had on the pitch ten years ago or twenty years ago. We know where we have to go. I’m extremely disappointed today because we degenerated expectations that I wanted for this football club because it’s what it deserves and we came up short. The feeling of guilt and not reaching that level is painful.

Arsenal player ratings vs Everton as Nketiah ends season in style while Martinelli impresses

Absolutely, they have given me many reasons throughout the season, and they have shown with the way they turn up, the atmosphere they’ve built home and away for these players. They can see what we’re doing, what the players want to do, how they represent the club, the values on and off the pitch, who we are as a group. And then we have the level that we have and it’s not been enough.