Mikel Arteta brings in training ground dog called ‘Win’ to boost Arsenal morale

Arsenal’s latest signing comes outside of the transfer window, with Mikel Arteta adopting a training ground dog to boost morale.

The chocolate Labrador named Win has been brought in to help with the mood at London Colney where it now spends most of its time.

The Times reports that the dog most recently witnessed goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale signing his contract extension at the club in headline news.

However, she has company at the Arsenal training centre, with a resident cat called Bob also a regular feature for the Gunners players.

Bob was adopted after his owner died, while Win has a primary carer who looks after her.

Arteta is known to regularly search for marginal gains, with the impact he hopes Win will have on players’ morale the latest attempt.

The Times claim the Spaniard was inspired to bring in a dog in a hope to ‘exploit research that has shown petting a dog can be calming, improve a mood and reduce stress levels’.

And it’s hard to doubt the 41-year-old, who has unexpectedly led Arsenal to a Premier League title charge in his third full season as a manager.

That challenge looks to have just fallen short, with Manchester City now inches from maintaining their title with success in their next match against Chelsea.

Many of Arteta’s unique motivational methods have previously been showcased on the Amazon documentary All or Nothing, covering the 2021/22 season where they just missed out on a top four spot to rivals Tottenham.

During the documentary, viewers got full access to Arteta’s dressing room style, including using a mocking Tweet from Brentford’s Ivan Toney to rile his players.