Arteta set for ‘bumper pay rise’ as Arsenal look to agree £25m deal

Arsenal are ready to offer Mikel Arteta a huge new contract at the club after a solid season in the Premier League, according to reports.

The Gunners are currently sitting in sixth position in the table but they are only four points behind fourth-placed Manchester United with three games in hand.

If the Spaniard could guide Arsenal into the Champions League by finishing fourth then the season would go down as a big success.

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The Arsenal board backed him in the summer by allowing him to bring in Aaron Ramsdale, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Martin Odegaard, Ben White and Nuno Tavares.

And with Arteta currently delivering on the pitch, The Sun claims that the Gunners are set to hand him ‘a bumper pay rise with a new £8.3m-a-year deal this summer’.

The former Everton midfielder only has 16 months remaining on his current deal at the Emirates stadium and the Arsenal board ‘are eager to secure his long-term future’.

Owner Stan Kroenke has sanctioned ‘a three-year agreement which will be worth £25m for the Premier League’s youngest boss’ which means an increase of £3.3m a year.

The new deal would still put him well behind Pep Guardiola (£20m a year), Jurgen Klopp and Antonio Conte (£15m a year) and Brendan Rodgers (£10m a year).

The Sun add that Arteta will get the ‘same money Arsene Wenger was earning when he left the club in 2018’ after allowing 16 players to leave the club and ‘shaving almost £90m off their annual wage bill’.

Meanwhile, Arteta has hinted that Odegaard could be the next permanent Arsenal captain after hailing the determination of the Norway international.

Alexandre Lacazette is currently sporting the armband but Odegaard is the captain of his country and Arteta revealed he has spoken to Norway boss Stale Solbakken about his credentials.

“He certainly has all the qualities to do that, absolutely,” Arteta replied when asked if he saw Odegaard as a potential captain.

“Talking to his national team coach and how highly they speak of him. He walks through the corridor and everybody loves him.

“He is such a nice, humble guy and he leads with the way he is. It is very natural for him and that will come.

“He generated expectations when he was 16 as well. Everybody wanted him. And then he had to fulfil that in a club like Madrid where the competition is like it is.

“It is extremely difficult but now he has found his place. He is really happy here, he has the environment.

“He has the people, he has the time on the pitch to enjoy it and I think that is what he is doing.”