Mikel Arteta has signed a new three-year contract with Arsenal, committing his future to the club until 2027.
The Spaniard, who has been in charge since late 2019, had entered the final 12 months of his previous deal at the start of the season.
Arteta has helped transformed Arsenal’s ambitions since replacing Unai Emery, leading the club to Premier League title challenges in each of the last two seasons.
Although the Gunners fell short to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in both years, Arsenal finished the last two seasons on 84 and 89 points – their highest totals since last winning the title under Arsene Wenger in 2004.
Arteta was an assistant to Guardiola at Manchester City, winning two Premier League titles, and could have been seen as a natural replacement by the current champions. Guardiola has entered his ninth season at City and the final year of his contract.
Arteta was also previously linked with Barcelona, where he grew up playing in the club’s academy, but he shut down those rumours as “fake news” last season.
While Arteta entered the last season of his contract, the 42-year-old told Arsenal fans not to “panic” and explained that his focus had been on the transfer window rather than his own future.
And the Spaniard has now extended his stay at the Emirates, offering a huge boost to Arsenal as they look to go one step further and end their long Premier League title drought.
He said: “I feel extremely proud, very excited and am looking forward to what is coming next. 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.”
Arteta won the FA Cup at the end of his first season season in charge in August 2020 and then returned the Gunners to the Champions League in 2022 following a seven-year absence. Last season, Arteta led Arsenal to a club-record 28 wins in the Premier League as they finished two points behind champions City.
“We are really happy that Mikel has signed a new long-term contract,” Arsenal’s sporting director Edu said. “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.”