Arsenal are set to announce that Mikel Arteta has signed a one year extension, according to the Mirror.
The Spaniard’s deal expires in June 2015, but after being made captain in the summer after the departure of Thomas Vermaelen, Arsene Wenger has decided to extend the contract of the new skipper, keeping him at the club until 2016.
Currently out injured with a calf strain, Arteta has been a solid purchase for the club, and played a very important role in steadying the ship in the wake of the departures of Cesc Fabregas and $amir Na$ri in August 2011.
He’s also an influential figure in the dressing room and one of the manager’s most trusted lieutenants, his qualities recently talked up by Santi Cazorla.
“There are always players who are born to be a captain and he is one of them,” said his Spanish compatriot. “He talks a lot on the pitch and also in the dressing room. He is always up for whatever the guys need. And that is what a captain has to do: transmitting conviction in order to keep the team together. Mikel is prepared to do this.
“It is easy to tell what he’s like. He is a guy who lives for football. He is always looking after himself, he is super professional and he also cares about the team so everyone is happy. That is why he is the ideal captain.
“Whenever there is a problem he is the one that goes and talks to the manager. He leads this group. The captain has to be the first one to speak. Mikel was doing this when he didn’t wear the armband, so now he is the captain he will do so even more.”
Arteta has struggled a bit this season but then that’s true of a number of our midfield players as they come to terms with a the slight change in system implemented by Arsene Wenger.
The deal, like Olivier Giroud’s, should be announced next week.
He’s our captain, atleast we should be happy for him, shouldn’t we?
I love Arteta and think hes been instrumental to our consistency the past few years. However I get the feeling we are seeing him slowly come apart before our eyes, his body isn’t what it used to be and his performances are dropping off quickly. He deserves the extension, but I hope Wenger doesn’t put off buying a proper DM longer.
It’s true he hasn’t had good performances in this season, but I don’t think this is completely down to him. It’s due in larger part to the manager switching to a one deep midfielder system which taxes him that much more, physically. In most of our games this season, the goals have originated from mistakes in the area in front of defense, showing that the boss, as usual, is trying to play a system that he doesn’t quite have the personnel for.
I wish we had some platform to play Isaac Hayden at defensive mid, but after the mediocre start to the season we’ve had I fear every game is too important. I thought he looked fantastic against Southampton- calm on the ball, intelligent, relatively quick and, perhaps most importantly, a presence- he had a good battle with Pelle (who’s far bigger and stronger than I’d thought) all night. It was his performance that stood out even more than Chambers’ for me, could see both of them playing for us for years to come.
That he is captain shows Arsenal have gone backwards, once upon a time we had WC winners as our DM/captain, now we rely on a second rate player with ZERO caps for his country, he must be wonderful for his country not to give him even ONE cap!! we bought him from everton as stop gap after Fabregas departure, the 8-2 debacle @ OT led to his signing plus BFG, they are both good but not who you need to win championships, even BFG was dropped by Germany to win the WC.
**facepalm**
BFG was actually dropped since Low changed their system. With the pace of Hummels and Boateng, Germany played a high line – The same high line which Per struggled with against Algeria. BFG is that kind of player – Incredible in a system that suits him, a bit poor in one that doesn’t. Arsenal play the system which gets the best out of him, Germany don’t. As for Arteta, he deserves his extension. But I don’t think he should start next season. Maybe from the bench and some low pressure games is the way to go with Mik. But it… Read more »
System that suits him? I take it we are ignoring the debacle against City, Chelsea, Liverpool and more recently Dortmund.
BFG tactically limits us as he does Germany – as you pointed out. With Sanchez & Welbz, we have players that defend from the front and Merts lack of pace severely hinders our ability to compress space & win the ball back.
This is further compounded by the fact we have gone from Vieira, Gilberto – World Cup winners and amongst the best in the world in their positions to Arteta and Flamini and the subsequent humiliations.
I was reading this and wondering why it’s got so many thumbs down.. and then came the BFG criticism. Ha, you don’t criticise the BFG mate, he’s ace!
Mikel Arteta can have a contract at Arsenal for another 100 years as far as I’m concerned. I love his calm, passion, leadership, ice-cold penalties (Everton in last season’s FA Cup QF was perfect), technique, passing, loyalty, class and all round superbness. He gets a lot of stick, and a lot of people won’t be happy with him getting a new deal, but a big part of why I love Arsenal is that we do the right thing, and giving this guy a new deal is definitely doing the right thing. Same way sticking by Diaby & extending Giroud is… Read more »
He’s not the same player that he was 2 years ago, when he was vital to our midfield.
You’re more comfortable with Flamini then?
He’s absolutely just as vital as evidenced by the way the match went when he subbed off. He may not be a natural DM, but he’s the best we’ve got for the role until someone else develops into it.
Great news, may he stay at the club and teach his impeccable attitude and hairgrooming skills to his successors.
He catches a lot of flack for not being Vieira, Yaya Toure, or whatever other holding mid is the talk of the town that day, but he is still a strong player. Glad to have him for an extra year.
The thing is, Wenger seems to have gone blind seriously does anyone think Mo Diame is worse than Arteta or Flaminni? Diame went from Wigan to WestHam for 3.5 million 2 seasons ago, now to Hull for even less, do we not need a bit of beef for some matches? or am i going crazy?
Does anyone think Flamini is better than Diame??? seriously as DM?
Diame is far from a DM
I love him, but I’m worried his influence is waning. Still, at least that’s two quality barnets tied to the club for a bit longer…
Say what you like about him, there’s no one else I would want to step forward when it’s time to take a crucial penalty. The one against Fulham is the only one I remember seeing him missing.
I remember that game hahaha I was down the coast on a boys weekend away and sat there glued to the screen while the topless waitresses and other festivities were carrying on all around me. I had tunnel vision for that 90 odd minutes. The things we do for the arse, eh?
That was one fucking good save though!
Is it me or does it look like Wenger hands out contracts in defence of his players or as a physiological boost… Just saying….
I’m afraid that’s probably right, and when you look at it as long-term strategy it seems incredibly wasteful. We have a limited squad size and limited money, but we have players on high wages who we rarely actually use. Last season there was Vermaelen growing more miserable and rusty by the week; this season Rosicky has been making grumpy noises already. Then there’s Podoloski and Joel Campbell, who don’t seem to be in favour with Wenger, plus poor Diaby, plus Flam and Arteta who are already way past their best, but who have the all-important virtue of loyalty. I love… Read more »
While we really do need an upgrade as first choice in the DM position, it’s worth keeping Arteta around for his experience and leadership qualities. Also a very good penalty taker.
Leadership qualities?……..the Spanish must be blind to those qualities i guess.
Terrible move. He is a decent player but not good enough for Arsenal. When we stop accepting mediocrity at the club we will make real progress. It eats me up that we have all this cash yet we still struggle to assemble a championship winning capable team. Arteta, Flamini, Podolski all deadwood now.
I know i will get thumbed down, buy please think about these comments before you do
I would happily see this happen if it means us signing a top quality DM & having Arteta as back up, winning 1-0 with 20mins to go I would be happy to see Arteta coming on to play alongside a proper DM to control the game, obviously he would still start COC games & the occasional game against lwoer opposition.
When I see Flamini getting an extension that’s when my head will go to shit
Good news, I guess.
He’s metronomic and consistent against the lesser teams and will still be good value in 20-25 games of the season, even in that extra year. However, as has been mentioned, I hope Wenger isn’t thinking of this as the midfield problem being solved as we need, for lack of a better word, a beast in that midfield role, especially against the top 6 teams away from home.
O captain, my captain
Ahhh Wenger. Arteta has served us well, his stats speak for themselves in his first few years. He really is JUST missing pace. But unfortunately pace is everything in the game. You can teach players everything else in the game but you can not teach players raw pace. I feel like we are being made not to moan ”too much” because Wenger for some reason made him captain. He deserves the role but he cant perform the task physically and for me it should have been given to ”The Boss” He is a silent killer, he oozes clinical class and… Read more »
Perfect comment
Really happy he’s staying beyond the current season, though i’d be a bit worried if at the end of the current campaign Arsene still view him as a core member in the 1st team, to get more out of this guy, we’ll need to play him less and i’d want someone we’re getting to replace him learn that art of passing from the pass master himself.
Like Rosicky, I’m stoked for him to stay but we REALLY need to make a signing in that department come July.
July? more like january!!
Obviously that’s not happening
At any other top 4 team this decision would be considered strange, at our club most decisions are strange… particularly this one, so no one bats an eyelid because its the norm. I really had hoped we’d learnt our lesson with regards to paying big wages for players who aren’t at the required level. I love Arsene and admire his philosophy and idealisms, but he really does lack the ruthlessness to take us forward. I’m sure we’ll compete for a top4 place again. But allowing Flamini and Arteta to leave and buying Schniderlin and Lars Bender would give our squad… Read more »
You would force Schneiderlin to sign for you (preferred Spurs) and compel Southampton to sell him against their wish? ….and for your information Lars recently vowed to honor his Leverkusen contract, which is till 2019.
We need a DM, so do a lot of teams, unfortunately not too many good ones are available out there. It’s a three way street. All the parties have to agree. Not just having money to spend.
Even Mo Diame is better than the 2 dross we have as DM.
Diame cost less than 3 million!
Arsene, is that you???
Anyone who saw chelsea tonight can see the obvious thing that as long as deluded Wenger does not incorporate solid physical and tall players into Arsenal ala Viera/Sol/Gilberto/Adams/Kanu etc he is fooling himself, if your tip tap dont work you can nick something from set play, but as we see 15 corners no conversion vs Spurs tells me Wenger has become second rate, i feel for fans who contribute to paying him 8 million a year, it is a scandal. Chelsea made numerous chances before Matics header, who do we have playing Matic role? Arteta or Wilshere all short dwarfs,… Read more »
This is good news, despite what the naysayers believe. I really loathe this mercenary attitude that has crept into large sections of our fanbase. On the one hand we bemoan Wenger selling players to rivals, yet on the other we get annoyed when our players sign new contracts!! What inherent hypocrisy!! Arteta has been one of the most consistent performers for our club over the last few years, never complaining, and always giving his best. That his best is not the World Class level we would hope for is a null point. His influence over the dressing room is clear… Read more »
You and I may loathe the mercenary attitude all we want but fans are free to hold opinions different from ours, rightly or wrongly. You and I may disagree with them but it does not make them effing idiots as you put it . Most reasonable fans love and appreciate Arteta and think he deserves an extension, but the section that disagree with us are no more idiots than those of us who are in agreement. It’s narrow-minded to think that the entire fan base should be homogeneous in its thinking, no matter how outlandish those opinions may be. Try… Read more »
Sheila, fair point, and I completely agree.
I am not against people who disagree with my opinions at all, but I am against the personal anti-Wenger rhetoric that gets thrown around without any constructive criticism. Suggesting Arsenal need a better DM then Arteta does not equal Arteta is shit and it’s bad that he gets another contract are completely different points.
I should not have said people who believe this are f***ing idiots, rather that I find those opinions f***ing idiotic.
Let me put it this way. Its the 80th min in the Champions League final and the OX is on a break. Who do you want as your sitting midfielder? Fernandinho/Matic or Arteta? He is too slow! its as simple as that im afraid. We are 1-2 signings off winning everything! no doubt about it.
And by that (didnt make myself clear lol) i mean hypothetically the OX is running at Arteta for the opposition and we have Arteta to stop him. It could very well be Neymar or any attacker with an ounce of pace. We NEED a pacey DM it would solve every stupid goal the opposition ever gets
‘Influence’? You have to see what he has done on the pitch, and against the top teams in the league in the past few seasons and this season – he has gone missing on more than one occasion. Don’t get me wrong, he is a decent player, but that is part of the problem. Why are we making do with ‘decent’ players? What is a bit part player doing as captain while the captain should be someone who is young and hungry like Jack Wilshere or Aaron Ramsey? Last couple of seasons it was Vermaelen, a player who was not… Read more »
Make a 23 year old with injury and red mist issues the captain? Pfft. You missed entirely the point of Cazorla’s quote about the stability a Mature professional like Arteta brings to he captaincy. It’s not just about running around a lot throwing tackles or scoring goals. I’m looking forward to the day Jack and Ramsey are there but it’s not right now.
And speaking of bit part check his starts and appearances over the last two years.
You give these types of players more responsibility more often than not they come through. Wenger progress himself on giving youngsters the chance in the first team so why is he not giving the chance to captain the side to someone who is young and hungry?
He is a bit part player NOW and has been given the captaincy this season. It makes no sense.
You are right Ramsey and Wilshere should not really be captain because i believe a strong CDM should be captain, but we don’t have one, so the next best thing is Wilshere or Ramsey.
Calling people f***ing idiots, is no way to further the discourse, everyone has a right to their opinion.
You want a world where everyone thinks exactly the same? Grow up man!
Glad he has got the extension. Agree that we need a physical/pacey holding midfielder. Do not however that the ‘Kanu’ inclusion in our list of physical players is a little bizarre.
FYI……..Nwankwo Kanu is a 6’5 man, and i tell you he is from the part of Nigeria where the men are strong physical specimen, he might have looked like a bean pole but he was a strong guy.
Mikel is a model professional and a proper role model for our younger players. Keeping him at the club if only to help keep the younger guys coming through grounded and focused is worth extending his deal into the realm of coaching as far as I’m concerned.
What a waste of money….he’ll be like Rosicky and Podolski next year and not get a game.
Funny how Arsene told half the Invincibles to hit the road as they approached 30 but players that are declining right in front of our eyes get extensions!!!! He’s not “sh*t”, he’s just not good enough anymore. Nothing mean, just true for anyone that has watched him visibly get slower with every match. You really think Arsene signed another one of his rent-boys to an extension to NOT play him???? Hell be our DM next season & people on here will still defend his lack of on-field Impact bc he is a “nice-guy”. Here’s a tip, guys like that need… Read more »
Deserves an honorable discharge at the end of next season. Proper bloke. Pukka Sahib and all that.
How dare anyone question Wenger?????
Arsene Knows Best!!!
#sarcasm
Great news about the metronomic one’s contract extension. To the chap that described Kanu has physical, I am certain you’ve never seen him play,pace wise BFG vs Kanu is like Usain Bolt vs 85yr old Granny. That should sum it up for you.
Trex d Gunner
Not sure which Kanu you are talking about, and BFG is no U. Bolt, no way BFG is quicker than Kanu.
You cant play for Ajax, win the ECL, then win the UEFA cup with Inter before coming to Arsenal if you are as slow as BFG. Kanu was a forward you might have forgotten, no way a forward can be slower than BFG and get a club.
I hear Dogba’s a bit slow these days…
Excellent. Too often we have let experienced players go too quickly. Even if he’s not going to play a key role for next season at Arsenal, his presence will be important and he can be a good mentor. And we know he’ll do a decent job if we need him to play. The invincibles could call on Parlor and Keown. United had Giggs and Scholes (they ended up actually relying on them regularly haha, but still)
Pires being I believe key to your point (when AW would not give him the contract extension he wanted). Maybe AW learnt from that decision that the over 30s still have valuable qualities to contribute.
Pesonally I would have given Robert the extension in a heartbeat!
Agreed, over 30s that aren’t physically declining in a role that requires it more than ever should be extended…….unfortunately that is not Arteta. He is getting slower with every match & IMHO should be eased into a coaching role at the club, not still playing after this year. So this means no DM next year, bc do you really think Wenger will have ANOTHER Tommy V, captain not playing situation? Nope
Guess we’re not going to sign a decent CDM. If we are, then once again we’ve made someone a Captain who will have zero influence ON the field, hard to do that from the bench. Can we make our next captain someone a bit closer to 25? Wenger too worried about them leaving once they hit their prime? Anyways, love the man, can’t say I wouldn’t rather have him on the bench though as a seal the win sub but hey, I’ve been trying to get my hair to look as magnificent as his since 2012. (With little sucess)
Why not? Arteta would be good playing in his natural position. I’m sure he’d be happy to not have to play DM anymore.
he will always bring something to the squad and we are not new to having our captains on the bench, so……good i guess as long as we sign someone who will move him to the bench next season…….
It seems you have to get injured to get contract extension. kidding of course. glad it’s happening.
Saw Carvalho in the match today. Am very glad we passed. Big, but slow, and nothing like the presence on the ball that Arteta’s got. I’m a fan of Arteta and am delighted with the news.
AND I hope there is someone out there to come in as the deep midfielder alongside Ramsey/Wilshere for the near future until young Isaac is ready. That kid impresses me.
The teeth marks of Podolski are clearly visible
on the Community Shield and the FA Cup.
I just don’t know what to feel,happy or sad…..!
Disappointed
God, wenger is handing out bad contracts left and right…we’re guaranteed to be mediocre again next season…
Arsenal wage bill now more than Chelsea’s whereas Chelsea’s squad is MILES superior to ours, upon that the deluded manager banks 8 million every year, some proper deluded Gooners on here. We shall see if our tactical genius can beat Morinho for the first time EVER on sunday. No chance if you ask me.
Funny how people/Arsene used $$$$$ as an excuse for many years (and rightly so in the beginning), but nobody has much to say now that we have the higher wage bill
Glad that Mikel has signed an extension. Even if he doesn’t play he influences the dressing room and mentors the young players.
You mean he passes on his vast international experience to the young ones???…..
Wait a sec., he has ZERO caps at that level, so what influence and mentoring?, where? when?
He was supposed to get a call-up before some asshole broke his leg when he was at Everton, I hear.
Arteta has been a decent buy for us he has had some solid performances over 2 years, he is a model professional (never a hair out of place either) he would bode well into a coaching role and even as an ambassador, but this could send out the wrong message on the clubs future ambitions to buy even in january or next year, We always seem 2 or 3 players short in the squad, this year seems its in defense and as our injuries are stacking up not long till the inevitable happens and we will be as quoted “A… Read more »
Our biggest problem over the years has been letting senior players leave. The younger generation always needs someone to guide them during tough patches. It is a good move to offer Arteta an extension. I am happy that I support a club which has some compassion and belief in the players ( as in the case of Diaby) and also respects the contribution of its players.
My initial reaction to this headline was “nooo…”.
I like Arteta, and yes he has been a solid signing for us, but I was hoping that next year would see him and Flamini graciously move on and the technical powerhouse we’ve all been longing for arrive in their place.
The captaincy should have gone to Per with Arteta staying vice captain imo.
Kozzer for me all day long……no questions about his place in the squad for next few seasons. Can’t say the same about Per past next year (be realistic) & Arteta wasn’t even an option for me due to the sharp physical decline that hit him starting mid-last season.
I’m very happy about this. I’d much rather we signed a few defenders than a DM right now. We all know who our future DM will be anyway: Chambers. He’s got what it takes and then some. Arteta can teach him how it’s done and he’ll start doing it as soon as our defensive coverage is better.
Even when Chambers is rocking the DM position, we still need a back up though, and I consider Arteta significantly better than Flamini at this point. Flamini may be badass, but he’s just too error prone.
Arteta is rubbish I don’t care about his so called great stats passing the ball he passes the ball stays in the same spot never looking for a one two he is rubbish simple as that wake up the man doesn’t deserve no new contract he is an average player adds nothing to our team
Congrats Arteta. You’ve been good. There was a time when you got injured and the whole team would collapse. You did your job in the big picture. I would’ve liked to have seen more of your darting runs and midfield goals that made you famous at Everton; but nice one on what you try to do for the team.
I think some martial arts training would give that extra half a second of confidence to flourish in your role. One more year of playing, and then teaching our new DM what to do for the team and I’m happy.
One day, Arteta will score a header from a set piece just like Matic did yesterday for Chelsea!……..or maybe Flaminni or Santi, or Wilshere or??? Thats if they werent too *ffing short!!!!!!
Stop buying short azzes unless they are Arguero or Messi-like………
Walex You would force Schneiderlin to sign for you (preferred Spurs) and compel Southampton to sell him against their wish? ….and for your information Lars recently vowed to honor his Leverkusen contract, which is till 2019. We need a DM, so do a lot of teams, unfortunately not too many good ones are available out there. It’s a three way street. All the parties have to agree. Not just having money to spend. Fair point, but you also can’t just expect clubs to give you their best players at your valuation. We could certainly afford to drop £25-35 mill bids… Read more »
All these people saying Arteta is the perfect role model etc etc etc. Im sorry but a role model as what? A winner? He has never won anything. We need title winners, champions league winners to lead the line. Someone who knows what it means to win. Wenger has forgotten what it means to win. Why is it other managers seem to know exactly what they need and they go out and get it. I’m talking about Chelsea City and even United. Even Leicester have signed a proper leader a champions league winner. He would have been better5 Arteta.
He led the team to the FA Cup and Community Shields trophies fairly recently I think.
If Arteta is the answer i don’t want to hear the question.
1 year extention ok but need to strengthen asap.
@oly, Kanu was an incredibly slow striker, but one of the most technically gifted players of his generation. His pace and lack of physicality were to me his weak points
This coul.d mean alot of things; one wenger isn’t going to sign a dm cos he feels chambers will eventually fill in that position or arteta will be kept for depth while wenger signs a world class dm next season and lets flamini leave. Say what you want, Arteta has declined. We will not win anything with arteta and flamini as our dm…why can’t wenger see this??
All that financial muscle is also to have the ability to keep such experienced players on board. This is good news. no two ways about it.
Arteta’s one of my favorite players, but I do think we could use a true DM. Arteta’s one of our smartest players, but I would much rather see him playing further upfield in his natural role. He was really good for us the season he actually got to do that. Stupid Song messed everything up with his glory-hunting.