Mikel Arteta signs contract extension with Arsenal to 2030
Alan Smith on Mikel Arteta’s new Arsenal contract: stability, ambition and legacy
Sky Sports News speaks to former Arsenal striker Alan Smith after Mikel Arteta signs a contract extension to 2030. Smith says the deal gives Arsenal stability and leaves them well placed, but he stops short of predicting a period of dominance; he also discusses Arteta’s authority and what a Champions League win could do for his legacy.
- The contract extension to 2030 is good news and gives Arsenal stability and continuity. — Longevity in the modern Premier League is rare and only comes with success, and Arteta has been successful so far.
- Arsenal are in a strong position, but it is too early to call it a period of dominance. — The first title is often the hardest and should free the team, and Arsenal have the ability and finances to strengthen; but football is unpredictable, as the 1991 title was followed by a long wait for another.
- Arteta has a chance to rival George Graham and Herbert Chapman, and a Champions League win could make him Arsenal’s best. — The contract to 2030 gives him time to make a strong mark; winning the biggest European prize would elevate him into a category of his own.
- Arsenal should first aim to win the Premier League consistently rather than be a one-off side; a Champions League would then raise Arteta further. — They should be in the same bracket as Manchester United and Manchester City for sustained title-winning, and Arsenal have never won the Champions League.
- Arteta’s key strength is his authority; players need to feel the manager is stronger than they are. — If players sense weakness or that a few bad results could get him sacked, they will take advantage; they also judge him on the training ground and buy in when they see improvement, and trophies make them feel safe.
- Players want to play for Arteta and Arsenal because the club is going places, and the owners deserve credit for backing him in the early tough period. — He is not afraid to point fingers or fall out with players, but he has authority and the club now has a clear direction; it would have been easy for the owners to go the other way earlier.
► Subscribe to Sky Sports News: http://bit.ly/SkySportsNewsSub ► Watch Sky Sports with NOW: https://bit.ly/NOWSkySportsYT Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith believes Mikel Arteta's contract extension to 2030 puts the club in a "good position" to dominate, noting they have "the ability and the finances to add to this squad." SkySportsNews SkySports xxxxx ► For the latest developments on this story: https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/topstories ► For the latest transfer news: https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/TransferCentre More from Sky Sports on YouTube: ► Sky Sports: http://bit.ly/SkySportsSub ► Sky Sports Boxing: http://bit.ly/SSBoxingSub ► Sky Sports Cricket: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyCricket ► Sky Sports Darts: https://bit.ly/SubSkySportsDarts ► Sky Sports Football: http://bit.ly/SSFootballSub ► Sky Sports F1: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyF1 ► Sky Sports Golf: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsGolf ► Sky Sports Premier League: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsPL ► Sky Sports Retro: http://bit.ly/SkySportsRetroSub ► Sky Sports WSL: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsWSL ► TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@skysportsnews ► X: https://x.com/SkySportsNews ► Website: https://www.skysports.com ► To enquire about licensing Sky Sports content, you can find out more here: https://www.skysports.com/more-sports/news/31754/11434270/license-sky-sports-footage
Transcript
Mikuel Artetta has signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal. The new deal takes him up to 2030 and it's the news that all fans have been waiting for as far as Arsenal fans are concerned anyway. And former Arsenal striker Alan Smith joins us live right now. Alan, great to see you. Look, we all expected this news, didn't we? But how great is it to see it finally sealed? >> Yeah, I think all Arsenal fans will be really pleased, Pete. Uh maybe a little relieved. Who knows? I don't think there was any real suggestion that he was going to go somewhere else, but there'd be no shortage of suitors in the European games. Some of the European giants, I'm sure, would have had their eyes on him because he's clearly a very talented manager and coach. So, yeah, really good news. Uh gives the club stability uh and that longevity. You know, you don't see it much now, do you, in the modern game, at least in the Premier League. So, uh you only achieve that longevity if you're a success. and uh he he is at the moment thankfully. >> Yeah indeed I think you're right. I think the plenty of clubs would have been the huge biggest clubs in the world football would have been looking at mea for sure. Um he of course won the Premier League title last year. A magnificent achievement got to the Champions League final as well. But as far as the Premier League's concerned um are you expecting a bit of a period of dominance now from Arsenal? It certainly seems to be looking that way. >> They're in a good position Pete. There's no doubt about that. You know, the first one quite often is the hardest because there are doubts running through the team. We've seen it in previous seasons where they just tightened up a little bit and weren't themselves and fell at the final hurdle. So, now that they've done it, that that should free them up. They've got the ability, they've got the finances to to add to this squad to make it better. They're trying to do that. Um, so I'm always loathed to say this is going to lead to a period of dominance. Um because you never quite know what's going to happen. I remember a week going right back to 1991 when we won the league and we only lost one game and all the papers were uh were saying it's 10 years that we're going to dominate from from here on in and you [clears throat] know it was well another seven years until Arson Wenger won the title in 98. So you never you never really know Pete but it has to be said they're in a great position. Yeah, it's a great point, mate. And like you say, that that team in in the early 90s with George Graham. George Graham was a fantastic manager for Arsenal. Arson Wenger then came in, like you say, was a unbelievable manager for Arsenal as well. How good can Arteta be? I mean, has he got a chance of going beyond what what what Venger achieved, would you say? Uh well it's a big ask but um given that he's just signed this what is it three and a half year contract uh taken until 2030 um there's a chance for him to really lay down a very very strong marker indeed to rival the likes of Arsen Graham Herbert Chapman of course if he was to win the Champions League there there's an argument to say he's top of the pile uh you know penalty kick away from doing that against PSG. >> I think people say what would you rather win the Premier League or the Champions League. I think first and foremost you got to try and win your domestic uh title because you don't want to be regarded as a one-off side, you know, that wins it and then can't continue. So, they want to be in the same ballpark as the likes of Manchester United and dare I say Manchester City um in terms of winning it consistently and if you can win the Champions League alongside then all the better. Obviously Arsenal have never done it. So that would elevate him into territory that nobody can uh kind of join him in. >> Yeah, indeed. Indeed. To win it back to back would be something that we've I I don't think we we've seen, have we? So that would be a great achievement this year. Um what do you think makes Arteta such a good manager? Because I mean it was not all been playing Salem Allen. There was a time you go back a few years, he was under a little bit of pressure, wasn't it? The the the league table was had Arsenal in a disappointing position. fans weren't particularly happy. They stuck with their man and now it's paying dividends. But what what makes Arteta so special do you think you played under some great managers? >> Yeah, I mean I certainly he's got that authority, hasn't he? Uh he's got that power. I think players in the dressing room need to feel that the manager is in a stronger position than they are. Uh if they feel he's weak and he might be getting the sack with a couple of dodgy results, then they'll uh take advantage of that. But uh so he's got that. And also I think they will judge what he does on that training ground. You can spot a fraud within 10 minutes as a footballer. But when he's out there issuing instructions and players see improvements in their own game, well then of course they take a great uh deal of um well they certainly think well this fellow knows what he's on about. Um and then of course when you're winning trophies you feel safe in his hands that he is the right man to lead you forward. I mean, some of the lads that have fallen out with him, you know, he's not afraid of pointing fingers, I don't think, in the dressing room, but as I say, Pete, he he's got that authority and players want to play for him. They want to play for Arsenal because they can see it's a club going places. Um, there aren't too many managers like him about these days and fair play to the owners for sticking with him, as you said, in those sticky early years when they could have gone the other way easily. >> Great stuff, Alan. It's always a pleasure to speak to you, my friend. Thank you so much.