It was widely thought that Mikel Arteta would fall foul or Arsenal’s ‘Curse of the captain’s armband’ when Arsene Wenger picked him as Club Captain on the departure of Thomas Vermaelen, especially as he is 32 years old and his contract was reported to be up at the end of this season.
When Arteta then got injured after playing just seven games and is now out until the end of the season. After going through an ankle operation it was thought unlikely that he would be given a new contract until he was fully recovered.
But now his agent Inaki Ibanez has told footmercato.net that an extension has been signed. ‘Mikel is no longer free next June, because he now has an extra year on his contract,’ he said.
Of course there is still nothing announced on Arsenal.com to that effect, but it is a good time to discuss the reasons why Wenger decided to extend his contract? Is it because Arteta has a wealth of experience to pass on to our youngsters by his example, or does Le Prof think the team will actually have need of a 33 year-old defensive midfielder next season?
And another thing, why was Arteta given an extra year, but nothing was negotiated with Coquelin or Akpom before the season started? That is STILL annoying me!
OT: Ozil must start this Sunday. He single handedly tore apart Villa in the first game.
sure an experienced head but def not a first teamer.
we should have bought cuadrado- because chelsea have just bought him.
ffs- feel like a brat but its so f*cking unfair.
wanted him bad-
no doubt some of u will say hes overated- like u did for costa an matic
chelsea are building to fight for european dominance
gutted
suppose walcott is right wing, an i do rate theo.
while we take all this time scoting for good deals, spending time finding rare unknown diamonds, bartering for prices.they just buy every young world star on the come up, pay his release clause- who needs scouts when ur a russian mob boss
depends, we talking footy or politics bro? OJ lol
We don’t need Cuadrado. Would rather bug Southampton with that 25mil for Schneiderlin.
Depends a bit on if and who we bring in over the summer but I definitely wouldn’t feel too confident with Coquelin, Bielek and Chambers as our DM depth chart. Arteta is a leader and it’s not like he’s going to get any slower. Good move.
totally coquelin and Bielek are not good enough for DM….
OT: I think Lacazette could be a really good signing,with podolski,campbell sonogo and afobe gone for this season and probably will go out on loan next season or sold in the summer, Lacazette could be a dope addition.
Fast,strong,versatile and a really good finisher…Hope Wenger is lining him up after getting us a TOP DM in the summer.
when did Lacazette becomes a DM…?????
Lacazette tall???
Dude what are you on??!!!!
Off course we should keep him. Although I fully expect him to be just a general squad player next season, his experience will still be vitally important once the injuries kick in. It’s almost a nailed on certainty we’ll have an injury crisis next season, so good quality squad depth will be needed. Also I imagine that two central midfielders will be leaving in Flamini and Diaby (unless Diaby gets a new contract proving his fitness to Wenger by playing a couple of games haha), so it would be silly to let three leave in the summer. You have to also remember that Coquelin may leave for free as well.
Yes, it’s essential to give over 30’s players a rolling yearly contract. It encourages future players to stay instead of leaving for that final big contract at another club. Rosicky has proven it works, so did Bergkamp who was on a yearly rolling contact too. We have Cazorla and Mertesacker now 30, we have Flamini now 30, Podolski 30 in June and we want them to be signing a rolling contract too.
We have seen Pires, Henry, Vieira, Toure, Parlour, Sagna and Arshavin all opting to move for a longer contract instead of the rolling contract at Arsenal. Gilberto is another who didn’t trust the rolling contract either and so Arteta signing like Rosicky does will be encouraging for Cazorla, Mertesacker, Flamini, and Poldi.
it is a policy adopted by many top clubs. I understand where you are coming from.
Henry left for different reasons tho (not to critisize, he wanted to experience as much as he could before retiring).
Over 30yrs old contract extension from performance is justified by the ffp regulations because youngster development and promotion is a big part of clubs future stability.
We need strength in debt and Areteta has many experiences but he is not DM!!! I wish we purchase Snchniederlin
It would be wise for wenger to secure francis coquelin by giving him, a new long term contract! Coyg!
It’s okay for Arteta to get another 1year contract,he can be good backup for Coquelin.When he leaves at the end of his contract Coquelin would have matured completely and Bielik will come in and replace Arteta.
Firstly, how do you know nothing was negotiated with akpom before the season started? Just cos he hasn’t signed doesn’t mean we haven’t put offers to him.
Secondly, coquelin was piss poor last season, he had a terrible attitude before he went on loan then has come back and thought well perhaps the grass isn’t greener. He couldn’t even nail down a place at freiburg, if wenger had offered him a big deal then it would have made more headlines than our captain being offered a 1 year deal. Ffs arteta has been a decent player, he took a paycut to join arsenal, he has played out of position yet still returned the best statistics for passing and tackling for each of the seasons he has played bar this one. I say the deal is excellent, he will keep coquelin on his toes and next season will act as a mentor to a new dm signing I am sure. At worst the new deal protects our investment, should david moyes or Roberto martinez come calling again.
Until we offload diaby galindo ryo and flamini we shouldn’t even start worrying about whether arteta is good enough cos I would take him over those 4 every day of the week.
Coquelin was played on the left wing for Freiburg and he failed to impress as a winger……
No brainer. Coquelin has shown promise, but jury is still out – and whatever DM signing we get during the summer may or my not need some time for adaptation. Arteta is the perfect security blanket for those two scenarios, it’s his age that’s the issue….not his ability.
Beyond all that he’s probably the best player to have around the dressing room for the younger players, and leads by example. He often attends our youth games, which is something few people realize. Top pro, well worth the extra year.
He will deff end up as a manager someday.
Yes Arteta has unfinished business.
Aches to win a big trophy and time is
against him ever winning one.
Could end up Arsenal manager yet.
Yes
Let us just sign Popga and end all our transfer wishes for the next 10 years damned.
when did Pogba became a DM??
you are right but i would still happily welcome pogba.
Arteta is def worth keeping.
He is both relatively cheap cover
for Arsenals injury prone mids.
Arteta can cover and mentor Coquelin
and/or the new DM’s.
He can also cover for youngsters
out on loan being assessed like
Sanogo, Campbell, Gnabry, Hayden, Zelalem
He is totally loyal. DRB Flamini Podolski
and Ryo should all go so that leaves plenty of salary space.
Rosicky should be retained for all of the above reasons too.
podolsky isn’t done with us (i hope). I’d love to see Ryo do a Coquelin, but i agree about your view on Arteta.
Who is DRB (not sure about the acronym)
Diaby 🙂
Sorry.
ah ok