Speaking at his pre-Everton press conference, Mikel Arteta has advised Chelsea manager Graham Potter not to let abuse and poor results “destroy his life” or impact his family and friends.

Graham Potter recently admitted to receiving death threats as his side struggles, having won only two of their last 12 games.

As a result, Mikel Arteta was asked about it at his press conference.

The Arsenal manager warned against letting the situation negatively impact personal relationships and said he empathised with Potter’s situation.

“You can have difficulties in your job and challenges, which we do, especially when you lose, but when you are winning as well because this job is so demanding,” Arteta said.

“But you cannot destroy your life because of that. And your family, your friends, your loved ones, the people around you, doesn’t deserve to have their lives affected in such a negative way because you don’t win a football match.

“So, that balance I think in my case was critical, but you need some help, someone to paint that picture in front of you because sometimes when you are in that position it is not easy to see.

“Absolutely [I have sympathy], we are colleagues and we all know the pressure, the demands and the uncertainty that this industry has.

“The fact is the ball has to go into the net and there are many factors that prevent that, that you cannot control so of course you empathise because you suffer and you know how it is when he is going through those moments.”.

Arteta refused to be drawn on if he had received death threats himself when asked.