Key keywords: Declan Rice, Mikel Arteta, 2023/24 Premier League champions, Arsenal title celebration, Gunners first Premier League title in 20 years, £105m Declan Rice transfer, 2024 Arsenal title parade, Arteta long-term Arsenal project It is the moment Arsenal supporters have waited 20 years to witness: after 38 gruelling, high-stakes fixtures, the Gunners have officially claimed the 2023/24 Premier League crown, finishing 5 points clear of long-time defending champions Manchester City to end two decades of near-misses and disappointment. Just 48 hours after their 3-0 home win over Nottingham Forest locked in the title, star midfield signing Declan Rice and manager Mikel Arteta broke their public silence for the first time during the club’s open-top bus parade through Islington, which drew an estimated 300,000 cheering fans lining the route. Rice, who joined Arsenal last summer from boyhood club West Ham United for a British record £105 million transfer fee, emerged as the transformative piece the club lacked during their narrow 2022/23 title collapse. Speaking to pitchside reporters before the parade kicked off, the 25-year-old England international fought back tears as he reflected on his debut season success. “I left West Ham because I wanted to compete for the biggest honours in the sport, but to lift the Premier League trophy in my first season here is more than I ever dared to dream of,” Rice said. “This group of players, the coaching staff, the gaffer, every single fan who showed up home and away all season – we all pushed each other through the tough moments to get here. I signed for this club because I believed in Arteta’s vision, and he gave me the trust and freedom to play my best football every week. This is not the end, either. We want to defend this title next season, compete for the Champions League, and build something special here for years to come.” Arteta, who took over Arsenal in December 2019 when the club sat 10th in the league table, was emotional as he addressed thousands of fans gathered outside Islington Town Hall at the end of the parade. “This trophy is for every supporter who stuck with us through the hard years, who bought tickets even when we were fighting just to finish in the top four,” the Spanish manager said. “We learned so much from the pain of missing out on the title two years in a row, that disappointment made us hungrier, more focused, more determined to fix our gaps. Signing Declan was a massive statement of intent from the club’s ownership, and he delivered everything we asked for and more – his leadership, physicality and consistency in midfield are exactly what we needed to get over the line. This is a reward for years of unglamorous, daily hard work from everyone at the club, from the academy staff to the matchday stewards. We are not going to rest on this win, we want to build a dynasty that makes our fans proud for decades.” The 3-hour parade saw players and their families wave to crowds from open-top buses, with captain Martin Odegaard carrying the Premier League trophy alongside Rice and Arteta for most of the route. Winger Bukayo Saka and striker Gabriel Jesus also gave short speeches to the assembled crowd, thanking fans for their unwavering support across the season.