Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed he is compiling an extensive archive of rival Premier League bosses stepping outside their technical areas after picking up his second booking of the season. The caution arrived during the Gunners' victory over Everton on Saturday, a triumph that lifted the club level at the top of the table.
Although the Arsenal boss has earned a reputation in recent years for straying past his touchline boundaries, he maintained that he is far from the worst culprit in the competition. Demanding fairness, Arteta suggested: "I do have to be careful. They should put sensors there." He further argued that others are escaping punishment, pointing out: "There are managers who have the record in the league, 36 times in 10 minutes [they] leave the touchline - no yellows."
To substantiate his claims that other Premier League managers are getting off lightly, Arteta confirmed he is proactively saving evidence. "I am clipping all of that so I have now a massive storage of images, so if somebody comes to me I can say, 'I am not in the record yet'. Somebody else has the record so let's see," he said, before adding: "Then it's 36 yellow cards in 10 minutes for the managers. I don't know what we are going to do - let's see."
Arteta did not publicly identify which mystery manager holds the 36-time record. However, an April 2025 study by BBC Sport found that among current top-flight managers, Aston Villa boss Unai Emery had spent the most time outside his technical area. For now, rival managers have been warned that Arteta is closely tracking their touchline movements.