Arteta agrees new Arsenal contract worth more than £10m a year until 2029

Mikel Arteta has agreed a new contract with Arsenal that will keep him at the club until at least 2029, according to a BBC Sport report, with the Spaniard set to earn more than his current £10 million annual salary plus £5 million in bonuses.

The deal would take Arteta into his tenth year as Arsenal manager, rewarding him for ending the club’s 22-year wait for the Premier League title last season. He also guided the Gunners to the Champions League final in the same campaign. The 44-year-old had entered the final year of his existing contract, though he moved quickly to quell any uncertainty about his future.

“They [the fans] don’t have to worry about any of that because I want to be here,” Arteta said last week. “I’m extremely happy and I feel very grateful to work with the people I work with.”

The precise length of the new contract has not been confirmed, but the reported 2029 end date underlines the club’s commitment to the manager who transformed Arsenal from perennial also-rans into champions.

Arteta will have time to finalise those off-field matters during the international break, with Arsenal not back in Premier League action until 10 October following their 3-0 defeat to Brighton — a result that knocked them off the top of the table.

The break has brought its own concerns on the injury front. Seventeen-year-old defender Marli Salmon has withdrawn from the England U18 squad for the UEFA Friendship Cup in Switzerland, where they were due to face Colombia, Egypt and South Korea. Chelsea’s Gabriel Sambou has been called up as his replacement in Will Antwi’s squad.

Salmon had been building momentum at club level, starting Arsenal’s Carabao Cup win over Ipswich Town and appearing in the Champions League matchday squad against Napoli. The nature of his injury has not been disclosed.

Meanwhile, senior midfielder Declan Rice has also stepped back from international duty, withdrawing from Thomas Tuchel’s England squad at the start of their Nations League campaign. Arsenal have indicated the decision is related to load management rather than injury.