Arsenal are right to give Mikel Arteta a new contract

As the masses prepared for the final weekday before another engrossing round of Premier League fixtures, Arsenal surprisingly announced that Mikel Arteta has signed a new contract until the end of the 2024/25 season.

The timing has been questioned. Arsenal’s fate this season is still undetermined with four colossal games remaining, and this team could well finish in sixth with Europa League football as much as it could end up in third. So much is still to play for, starting with Leeds.

It’s evident that the decision to announce this now is to block out any outside noise – rumours had began to emerge with questions cropping up in press conferences – and to direct total focus to the task at hand. Tunnel vision is engaged on nothing other than Sunday.

What is key to ask yourself is: do you want to see more of this?

Arsenal are right to give Mikel Arteta a new contract until 2025, even if the timing with four Premier League matches left to play raised eyebrows

The entire club has undergone a cultural refurbishment by the Arteta, with absolute clarity on what it takes to be a representative of Arsenal Football Club. This is no longer a club where you can bolster your retirement fund, this is a club to better your career.

There is a sustainable recruitment drive that has helped craft a squad more likeable and endearing than perhaps ever seen during the Emirates era. Crucially, this is one of the contributing factors towards the strongest bond between supporters, the team and the club during that period. Arteta has been fundamental in that.

The team are completely bought into the process, too. Arteta has made plenty of controversial decisions during that time, but has it disconnected the players? Have they become stronger as a result? Have they improved under his guidance? They have. And they are the ones who spend so much of their time with him.

If you can’t see improvement across the entire club and players, as well as Arteta the manager, then you are actively avoiding it. It’s unmissable. Arsenal have played some of their best football in years this season.

Mistakes have been aplenty throughout his tenure – some he still hasn’t learned from – yet to have come through such hardships already, not seeing it through when there are tangible signs of progress would make little sense. He could so easily, and perhaps deservedly, have been sacked by now, but the club have persevered and Arsenal are better for it.

Besides, who else would come in? A depressed market for managers is more than likely to have impacted the decision not to relieve him of his duties during the darkest periods, and now there are few if any young coaches across Europe with as much justified hype and excitement as there is around him

Arsenal have been through sticky patches this season. They will undoubtedly go through more. If it does transpire that Arteta’s position becomes untenable with the team regressing under his tutelage, then he’ll be sacked. It might not be cheap but it isn’t like the club can’t make a decision when they want to. The contract doesn’t really change anything in that regard.

Hearing “We’ve got Super Mik Arteta” bellow around the Emirates and away ends up and down the country reinforces the belief from supporters in where the club is heading under this manager. They will believe until they don’t. There are no signs of that dissipating.

And a word for Jonas Eidevall, who has Arsenal Women four points better off in the table than last season with one potentially title-deciding game still to come. The direction of travel under him is encouraging, especially when factoring in that he’s integrated nine new players, implemented a totally different playing style, and didn’t have pre-season to prepare.

It was a lovely touch from the club making a duel announcement. But, now that’s done, both sides can switch attentions to a gigantic Sunday.