Arsenal writer Charles Watts has claimed that Mikel Arteta and Stan Kroenke would have been speaking about the manager’s contract recently.
Not so long ago, the Spaniard was reported to be in America talking to the club’s owners. At the time, the belief was that Arteta would have been requesting money to make some January signings.
However, the Gunners did not make any deals that window and Watts has suggested another topic must have come up as well.
Indeed, while speaking on his YouTube channel, the journalist said there’s ‘no doubt’ the manager’s contract would have been spoken about.
He said: “Now, we all know that he [Arteta] did travel to the US relatively recently to sit down with Stan Kroenke and spend a couple of days with him.
“As far as I was aware, that wasn’t just down to one specific topic, it was to do with a lot of things. The transfer window was open at that time, still had about a week to go, well, just under a week of it to go.
“But yeah, I understand that he didn’t just go over there for contract talks or something like that. But there’s no doubt that that would have been discussed, the future would have been discussed. You can’t imagine he would sit down with the owner for a couple of days and that wouldn’t be discussed.”
TIF Thoughts on Mikel Arteta and Arsenal…
It is interesting to hear that although contract talks likely would have been a key issue to discuss, Watts does claim that it wasn’t the sole reason for the trip.
Beyond transfers – which never came to pass – it’s hard to know for sure exactly what those other talking points would have been.
When it comes to Arteta’s future with the club, however, it does seem as though a new deal could be on its way soon. Indeed, as reported by the Daily Mail, the Spaniard will be offered a three-year deal this summer in a bid to secure his long-term future, as his current deal runs out in the summer of 2023.
Would you give Mikel Arteta a new AFC contract?
Yes
No
When asked about the possibility in a recent press conference, the manager said (via Eurosport): “I just think things will happen naturally, as they have happened over the last few months, and our focus has to be delivering what we want to do.