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          Arsenal's Mikel Arteta: 'I couldn't write a better script probably'

          • Mattias Karen, Arsenal correspondentMay 15, 2016, 06:50 PM ET

          Arsenal captain Mikel Arteta says he is 99 percent sure his playing career is over after a tear-filled goodbye to the Emirates Stadium following a near-perfect last game with the Gunners.

          Arteta, who is out of contract after this season, came on as a late substitute in Arsenal's 4-0 win over Aston Villa for a final appearance as a Gunner. It was his first action since January. He capped it by creating the fourth goal when his shot hit the crossbar and then bounced off goalkeeper Mark Bunn and into the net. While it was credited as an own goal, Arteta celebrated it as his own. And he was given a raucous ovation after the game as he left the pitch in tears.

          "I couldn't write a better script probably," said Arteta, who joined from Everton in 2011. "I was very scared about this day because 99 percent, that was my last game as a professional footballer. ... It's going to be hard for me to move on, but I really enjoyed today."

          If Arteta does decide to keep playing, it would be with another club. But he is widely expected to go into coaching, with Pep Guardiola interested in making him part of his new backroom staff at Manchester City next season.

          Arteta kept mum about his future, but made it clear he intends to remain in the game in some capacity.

          "I have to take some time," Arteta told the Arsenal website. "I'm 99 percent sure I will stop playing football. I have different options now to continue in relation to this magnificent sport. I need to sit down with my family and decide what is best for me and for football in general in the next chapter."

          Arteta lifted two FA Cup trophies at Wembley as he helped Arsenal end a nine-year title drought but apologised to fans for coming up short in the Premier League.

          "We are disappointed, because this group of players have the ability to win the Premier League. We have not managed to do it and I have to say sorry as captain, not to be able to lead this club to what we wanted," he said.

          Arteta is part of a trio of outgoing midfielders at Arsenal, along with Tomas Rosicky and Mathieu Flamini. Neither of the other two was in the squad for their last game, as Flamini had a slight injury while Wenger said he had to make a tough decision to leave Rosicky out.

          "It was a very sad day for me yesterday not to pick him in the squad today, because there was something at stake," Wenger said.

          Arsenal needed at least a draw to secure third place, but the win coupled with Tottenham's 5-1 loss at Newcastle meant the Gunners finished second behind champions Leicester. Rosicky made just one appearance all season, in the League Cup, because of two separate injuries.

          Rosicky, who has spent 10 years at Arsenal, was given a special ovation after the game as the entire team came back out onto the pitch wearing his No. 7 shirt and formed a guard of honour for the Czech Republic veteran as the crowd chanted his name.

          "That shows that in football there are still positive emotions," Wenger said. "Tomas Rosicky was an exceptional football player, and highly respected in our dressing room."