"?Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta has explained his decision to retire from football this summer.
The 34-year-old midfielder has been at the Gunners since 2011 after joining from Everton for £10m, but has seen his game time limited in recent years - he played just 13 times in his final season.
He told the "?Daily Star: "It is very hard to stop but I wanted to leave it. I wanted to decide, and I thought for the last few months that I wasn't good enough to represent this club on the pitch.
"You have to accept it. It has been a long time for me to be playing football and I didn't want to cheat them or anyone. It is time. I want to leave it like this and we will see what happens.
"You have to be honest with yourself. That's why I haven't been upset with the manager. I have been upset with myself. When you can't get it right and you have been through injuries and difficult moments at this level.
"For me, to play at this club, you have to be the best in your position. When you lose that, I think you should be away from this place. I have probably been here too long.
"In the last few months, I probably didn't deserve to be here but at least I got the chance [against Aston Villa] to stay in touch with them and it has been amazing."
The "?Daily Mail have reported the the Spaniard will join fellow countryman Pep Guardiola at Manchester City as a coach for the 2016/17 season. Arteta has been doing his coaching badges and appears to have chosen to join City ahead of Arsenal and Tottenham for his first non-playing role.