Mikel Arteta will bid to bring back the spark to Arsenal after being appointed head coach of the Premier League club on a three-and-a-half-year contract.

Confirmation of his decision to leave Manchester City and return to the club where he ended his playing days came on Friday as Arsenal announced the widely expected move.

The Spaniard spent three and a half years as assistant to compatriot Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium, and City were keen for Arteta to stay with them.

He looked primed as a strong contender to one day succeed Guardiola, but Arteta was not prepared to wait for the chance to take charge of a Premier League club.

The 37-year-old will take up his new position on Sunday, the day after Arsenal face Everton in the Premier League.

This is a huge honour," said Arteta. "Arsenal is one of the biggest clubs in the world. We need to be competing for the top trophies in the game and that's been made very clear to me in my discussions with Stan and Josh Kroenke, and the senior people from the club.

"We all know there is a lot of work to be done to achieve that but I am confident we'll do it. I'm realistic enough to know it won't happen overnight but the current squad has plenty of talent and there is a great pipeline of young players coming through from the academy.