Mikel Arteta has signed a new three-year contract at Arsenal. The Spaniard’s current terms had been due to expire at the end of the season but neither he nor his employers had offered any suggestion that Arteta might leave a club that have reestablished themselves as title contenders under his stewardship, which began in December 2019.
Arteta is expected to receive a significant increase on the $9 million a year salary he agreed to in May 2022 on his last extension, per sources. Since then, the 44-year-old has guided Arsenal to consecutive second-placed finishes in the Premier League albeit without adding to the FA Cup he won at the end of his first season in charge in 2020.
Despite progress not yet translating into silverware, it has long seemed a matter of when not if Arteta would put pen to paper, the man himself acknowledging last month that Arsenal’s work in the transfer window had led to him delaying the finalization of his extension, which comes on the eve of the north London derby at Tottenham on Sunday.
“I feel extremely proud, very excited and am looking forward to what is coming next,” said Arteta in a statement. “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.”
As he approaches the half decade mark at Arsenal, Arteta is already the sixth longest tenured manager in the Premier League and English Football League; in the Premier League only Brentford’s Thomas Frank and Pep Guardiola have longer tenures. Sunday’s meeting with the latter will see Arteta enter the top 10 longest-tenured Arsenal managers in terms of games coached, his 233 so far having delivered 138 wins.
Arsenal have started the season in encouraging fashion, picking up seven points from a possible nine in the Premier League and adding the likes of Raheem Sterling, Mikel Merino and Riccardo Calafiori to their squad. Arteta’s extension marks the start of a pivotal 10-day period for Arsenal, who travel to Tottenham and City in the Premier League either side of a Champions League opener away to Atalanta.
“We’re delighted to have extended Mikel’s contract,” said co-chair Josh Kroenke. “Mikel is a dynamic and passionate manager, who is relentless in the pursuit of excellence. He has a deep understanding of Arsenal’s values, and since joining us as head coach in December 2019, he has taken the team to another level in an Arsenal way. There is a great collective team spirit at the club, and with the strong relationships we hold between us and belief in what we do, we look forward with excitement and confidence, as we continue our aim – to win together.”
Sporting Director Edu added, “We are really happy that Mikel has signed a new long-term contract. It’s a very positive and proud moment for everyone at the club and an important part of what we’re all working towards. Mikel has shown his qualities since the very first day he joined us, not only as a football manager, but as a person with wonderful values. We have a strong belief in what we are doing and what we want to achieve together. Mikel’s new contract gives us stability and clear direction as we aim for new heights.”
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