Mikel Arteta signs four-year deal to 2030 as his authority at Arsenal widens
Mikel Arteta signed a new four-year contract at Arsenal on Wednesday that will keep him at the club until 2030. When completing the deal the manager said “this is only the beginning.”
The length of the agreement will take Arteta past a decade at the helm; he will mark his seventh anniversary in the job in December. Arteta was made Arsenal captain by Arsène Wenger in 2014 and joined the club’s coaching ranks after a stint as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City. He was upgraded from head coach to manager in September 2020, having won the FA Cup six months after replacing Unai Emery.
Arteta’s influence extends beyond matchday matters and into daily life at the club, illustrated by the role of Win, a chocolate Labrador therapy dog he introduced in May 2023 a few days after his side had finished as runners-up to Manchester City for the first time. Win played a starring role in the celebrations when Arsenal were crowned Premier League champions in May, spends most days at Arsenal’s training centre in Hertfordshire and has a primary carer who is a full-time member of staff based there; Arteta is understood to have taken Win home for Christmas last year and cuddly replicas are available in the club shop. “I carefully chose the dog and in my opinion it’s the perfect representative of who we are right now,” said Arteta in 2023. “Win needs accountability from us because we have to look after her as well; her emotions and what she needs.”
Club officials and sources say Arteta has a direct line to co-chair Josh Kroenke and is able to exert a major say over most big decisions on and off the pitch, with various executives departing as his power has increased. Arsenal announced this week that they had decided against a major expansion of the Emirates Stadium after Arteta is believed to have expressed concern over the disruption that would be caused by any temporary move to Wembley or elsewhere.
Owner Kroenke Sports & Entertainment is also thought to have been put off proposals to increase capacity to 70,000 owing to the cost, despite agreeing a record $4bn (£3bn) deal to buy Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Angels last month. The club is understood to have made Arteta the best-paid manager in the Premier League with a hefty salary increase from the £10m plus £5m bonus for reaching the Champions League that he agreed in 2024; only Atlético Madrid’s Diego Simeone is thought to earn more globally.
Arteta is credited with exercising final say over transfer decisions, including the choice not to pursue interest in Malick Fofana after the Belgium forward was offered in the final days of the transfer window because he wanted to ensure the 16-year-old phenomenon Max Dowman would not be denied opportunities. He may regret not bringing in another forward after Christos Tzolis sustained a hamstring injury with Greece that is expected to keep him out for at least three weeks, but sources say Arteta has been calling the shots even since the arrival of Andrea Berta as sporting director in March 2025.
The 44-year-old became the second-youngest manager after José Mourinho to win the Premier League, and while comparisons are drawn with Wenger’s near 22-year spell — Wenger’s first day was 30 years ago last week — Arteta has said the new contract is the start of a longer project. His twin motivations are to make Arsenal back-to-back league title winners for the first time since the 1930s and to become European champions after they lost to Paris Saint-Germain in last season’s final on penalties, and Arteta appears to be here to stay.