Mikel Arteta has agreed a new contract. The three-year deal he signed in September 2024 was due to expire at the end of this season, so this was the year it had to be sorted.
It's expected to keep him until 2030, which would take his reign past a decade, and The Guardian says he can expect a hefty increase on his £10m-a-year salary. You'd struggle to argue with either half of that. He won them the league.
The timing is the interesting bit. Three days after the 3-0 at Brighton, Arsenal's heaviest defeat in over three years, and the club have gone ahead and tied themselves to him for years. That's a board that isn't reading one bad afternoon as evidence of anything.
His backroom staff are negotiating new deals too. That's the part that actually matters day to day — a manager on a long contract with a coaching staff who all leave in the summer is a different proposition entirely.
Arsenal Women beat HB Køge 1-0 at Meadow Park to open the Champions League league phase, and it took a penalty from Mariona Caldentey in stoppage time. Slegers made eight changes from the United draw. Only Leah Williamson, Steph Catley and Stina Blackstenius kept their places.
Slegers called it a mentality and resilience win, and you can see why she'd reach for that. Two games, two goals in the last minutes of stoppage time. The problem she's actually got is the one before the ninetieth minute: a side that can't break down a low block is going to keep making these nights harder than they need to be.
Declan Rice is said to be ready to commit his long-term future to the club. That one came off the back pages, the day after he'd pulled out of the England squad with his workload being managed. I'd want the club's word on it before I got excited.
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