Arteta says fans need not worry about his Arsenal contract ahead of Community Shield
Mikel Arteta told reporters in his news conference ahead of the Community Shield on Sunday that supporters "don't have to worry about" his future at Arsenal and that the time left on his deal is "not an issue".
Arteta, who has been in charge of Arsenal since 2019, is into the final 12 months of an agreement he signed in 2024 and was speaking after concerns were raised that he had not agreed a new deal before the 2026-27 campaign. He led the club to their first Premier League title in 22 years last season and also took them to the Champions League final, where they were beaten by Paris St-Germain.
Asked directly about supporters' worries, Arteta said: "No, they don't have to worry about any of that because I want to be here, I'm extremely happy," and added: "I feel very grateful to work with the people that I work with and whenever we have the possibility we will resolve that and that's it."
Arsenal's summer transfer business has included a failed pursuit of Real Madrid winger Vinicius Jr and several completed moves: midfielder Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle, Greece international winger Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge, and Piero Hincapie's loan from Bayern Leverkusen converted into a permanent transfer for a combined £143.5m. Goalkeeper Illan Meslier arrived on a free transfer from Leeds United, while Leandro Trossard, Jakub Kiwior and Christian Norgaard have been moved on from last season's squad.
The club remain interested in defensive reinforcements, targeting either Aston Villa's Ezri Konsa or Jarell Quansah of Bayer Leverkusen following injuries to William Saliba and Jurrien Timber. With the transfer window open until 1 September, Arteta described the club's approach to his contract as lower priority for now: "There's always another priority I think and that's the way we've been treating it. Arteta added. "I think because everybody feels comfortable that the time on the contract is not going to be an issue. "I think because my will certainly is to be here and I'm very happy here. "And my feeling from the club is is the same one so I think that's why everybody doing it things in a really organic way."
On squad building, Arteta declined to single out individuals and reiterated the club's objective to strengthen: "I'm not going to talk about any individuals, obviously what I can tell you is the ambition of the club." He added: "It's big that we want to improve the squad, we want to evolve the squad in order to achieve that. "We have obviously detected some areas that they can be strengthened and that's what we are trying to do."
Arsenal will meet Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday, with kick-off scheduled for 15:00 BST, and Arteta will take charge of the team as transfer and contract matters continue to be handled during the summer window.
