It was the news that loyal Arsenal fans up and down the country had been waiting for, on Tuesday it was officially confirmed that Premier League title winning gaffer, Mikel Arteta, had now put pen to paper on his new long term contract extension.
The confirmation came as no real surprise to anyone in the wider world of football as it was well known that the 44 year old Spaniard was due to see his existing deal expire at the end of the 2026/27 campaign and that he wanted a new one. The deal being announced swiftly into the new season was probably as close as you could get to being guaranteed that you would take the jackpot on the roulette wheel at am Australian online casino. There was simply no way that the Emirates Stadium big wigs were going to let him leave after finally seeing him get us over the last last campaign, and the journey we had all the way to the Champions League Final, before finally succumbing to French serial winning Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Talks on a new deal had been ongoing for a number of months, and it had been believed for a few weeks that a new deal was now on the verge of being signed, so going into the first international break of the year with this news, will be a great boost for everyone. Not least it confirms our longer term plans for those new signings that we added to the group during the summer transfer window, and it will certainly take any media distractions off the table as we look to defend the title and see if we can now lift it in back to back seasons.
We do not have confirmation about how long his new contract will run, but following his arrival in the dug out back in the 2019 campaign, it will see him through his decade as manager in north London and is very likely to be in the region of the four to five year extension time frame. It is also suggested that his salary of a reported £10 million a year will now be significantly boosted, as will his bonus £5 million pot, for hitting the board's targets.
Arteta had been answering questions on his contract just last week, and he had assured fans that he was 'extremely happy' at the club, and that he wanted to stay, so there was no reason for 'worry' as he was confident that the deal would get over the line when it got over the line. That was obviously true and many fans will wonder if it had been agreed fully in principle when he previously spoke and everyone was just waiting for the calmer period of the international break to get the relevant signatures and announcements in place.
With that now done, fans can twiddle their thumbs for a couple of weeks until proper football returns, and with our opening Champions League three points on the board, and a great start to the domestic season with only a small hiccup last weekend to contend with, confidence and optimism will continue to be incredibly high that come the end business end of the season we will be up there, and battling for top spot, and hopefully successive titles.
There is plenty of football, twists and turns, left though and that means there is also plenty of hard work left as well. Arteta will know that, and if he had any doubts on being able to achieve it, it is doubtful a new deal would have been agreed.
