Mikel Arteta makes decision on new Arsenal contract after fans left to worry (original) (raw)
Mikel Arteta SIGNS long-term Arsenal deal to end fans' worries over contract stand-off
Mikel Arteta's Arsenal deal had been due to expire at the end of the 2024-25 season but the Spanish manager has ended any doubts over his future by agreeing a new deal
Mikel Arteta smiling in Arsenal training
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has signed a new contract which will keep him at the club until 2027.
The Gunners boss had led his team to back-to-back second-place finishes in the Premier League, but his existing deal had been due to expire in 2025. Now, though, he has agreed an extension to stay in North London.
Since replacing Unai Emery midway through the 2019-20 season, he has helped lead the team back towards the upper echelons of the Premier League table. Arteta's team have made an unbeaten start to the new season, winning their first two matches before drawing with Brighton last time out.
The new deal comes on the eve of a huge North London derby clash against Tottenham. Arsenal took four points from their rivals last season but go into Sunday's match without some key players with Declan Rice suspended and Martin Odegaard expected to miss out through injury.
“I feel extremely proud, very excited and am looking forward to what is coming next," Arteta said after the extension was made official. "I’m proud to be where I am and have the relationships that I have with everyone at the club.
“I feel extremely lucky to work every single day with good people and the ambition we have here. I feel very inspired, I feel challenged, I feel supported and I want to do much more than what we’ve already done together.
“Together with the players and everyone at the club, we are looking forward to the coming years, with our supporters, who have emotionally transformed the club and the team. Our supporters have transformed individuals and we are different now. You can tell that we are different and for me, that is down to them. We look forward to continuing the journey together.”
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Mikel Arteta celebrating with Arsenal (
Image:
Getty Images)
Back in August, Arteta allayed fears over his future. "I don't think anybody has to panic. We have done it in the past and it has never been an issue - and I don't expect that to happen," he said.
"We are on it and we will take care of that in the right moment. The focus has been on the transfer window. We had quite a lot of things to do and discuss.
"I'm in the place where I want to be and am really happy - hopefully the club thinks the same thing. I work with the players every day and when I am talking to them, having discussions and planning things, you sense in their eyes that belief and hunger is still there.”
Arteta's extension comes amid questions over Pep Guardiola's Manchester City future (
Image:
PA)
Arteta's decision comes after another of the Premier League's longest-serving managers, Jurgen Klopp, left Liverpool last summer. Pep Guardiola's longer-term Manchester City future also remains uncertain, with the title-winning boss currently under contract until 2025.
"Next year will be nine seasons, which is a lot of time," Guardiola said in January. "Extending after two years is not the same as extending after nine. We have a lot of time [to decide]. But now I feel really good."
After clinching the title in May, he said he was "closer to leaving than staying". However, in July he indicated he remained open to extending his stay at the Etihad Stadium.
"When I'm leaving, I will say I'm leaving. But I didn't say it," he told reporters during City's pre-season tour of the United States. "I will not rule it out absolutely to extend the contract. I just want to be sure it's the right decision, not just for me, for the club."
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