Mikel Arteta’s new Arsenal contract could be the first of many in the coming weeks and months, at the very least for the men’s team.
The big news on Friday morning was that both the Spaniard and Women’s manager Jonas Eidevall had signed contract extensions with the north London club, keeping them at the club until the end of the 2024/25 and 2023/24 seasons, respectively.
“I’m excited, grateful and really, really happy today,” Arteta said. “When I spoke to Josh [Kroenke] he could see the club at the same point and he wanted to take the club the way I wanted to do it. So everything that he’s said, and that Stan has said when I’ve been together with both of them, they’ve always delivered.
“We want to take the club to the next level and to compete really with the top teams. In order to do that, we have to be playing in the Champions League. We have to be able to evolve the team, improve our players, improve all departments, generate even more connection with our fans, improve the atmosphere at the Emirates, be able to recruit top, top talent and the best people for this club to drive this project to that level.”
Whilst plans are afoot for a busy summer transfer window at Arsenal, it’s already clear as to which first-team players could be next to follow in the footsteps of Arteta by signing a contract extension – whether that be before or after the current campaign concludes.
Perhaps the number one priority is to tie down Bukayo Saka, amid links to the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City. it has been the plan for the Gunners to offer the England international a brand new contract at the end of the season.
The 20-year-current old’s contract expires in the summer of 2024, but football.london understands that new terms will reflect his role as one of the team’s most important players, having scored 11 goals and assisting six times in the Premier League so far to keep Arsenal in contention for a top-four finish.
Furthermore, the futures of Alexandre Lacazette, Mohamed Elneny, and Eddie Nketiah at Arsenal will be decided as soon as the season ends. All three are out of contract at the end of June, and the outcome of the talks, which are set to take place in just over a fortnight, is still unknown.
“We have discussions, as you know, and at the end of the season, once we know where we are, we will make a decision altogether,” Arteta said in March. “I don’t want anyone to think about something else that is not that. The decision, we agreed, is to do it in the summer and we’re going to do it as soon as the season is finished.”
Last, but by no means least, is to get the William Saliba situation sorted. This season’s loan spell with Marseille has proved he can be a key player for Arsenal, but everything will be clearer once his representative meets with technical director Edu in the coming weeks to discuss the next steps in his future as preliminary talks will be opened to extend his contract which expires in 2024.
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