The run of games Arsenal have coming up over the next week or so promise to be particularly bruising and all the more so given the injuries and absences that are piling up.
You’d have to be a mad man to be looking forward to a run of Spurs, Atalanta and Manchester City – all away from home – with the centre of your midfield (something like £170million worth of talent) reduced to watching from the sidelines.
And that’s without factoring in the injuries to Gabriel Jesus and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
In short, we’ve had a rough ride as Arsenal fans over the last fortnight.
So the new this morning of a new, three-year deal for Mikel Arteta is a little relief from the gloom. Though it hasn’t dragged on quite like some of our contract sagas of the past (Ozil and Sanchez anyone?), it feels good to get this deal agreed well in advance of it becoming one of those nagging, tiresome issues that rears its head every week, at every press conference, and in every outlet available.
Tying Arteta to the club for the next three years removes those questions at once and opens the window on the horrid stench of a post-Pep Manchester City. In all likelihood, the Spaniard will be departing the north west at the end of this campaign and you can be sure a read-made replacement in Mikel would have greatly appeal to their owners. Now, they can bugger off and look elsewhere.
Beyond that, the manager – who has been a hugely important part of the club’s resurgence in recent years – is committed to building on the foundations he has laid and on delivering the success we all crave. This new deal is one that will hopefully deliver the silverware his early years have promised.
It means a great deal for our squad too. This group has been built in the manager’s image and, when an influential figurehead departs, you can often find the band breaks up with them. For now, that risk is removed. Players take confidence and encouragement from a manager who is committed to a project, something they too have bought into.
So, while three wins and a fully fit squad might be what we’re all desperate for in the immediate term, we shouldn’t overlook the boost this can give us too. Mikel has done a great job since his appointment, brought a sense of identity, culture and engagement back to the club – it feels good to be an Arsenal fan again. If this deal allows that work to continue, to improve still more, it’s something we can all cheer.
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