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Mikel Arteta will remain an Arsenal player next season after agreeing a new one-year contract to end the uncertainty surrounding his future at the club.
Despite being the Gunners’ club captain, Arteta had not agreed a deal with the club even though his existing contract expired at the end of last season. Having missed the entire second half of the season due to a serious calf injury, doubts initially emerged earlier in the season when Arteta agreed to stay with Arsenal, only for the club to delay agreeing the deal.
According to the Daily Mail, the reasoning behind the delay was to allow manager Arsene Wenger to assess his options in the transfer market, but the news that Arteta’s deal has been signed and sealed – with official confirmation set to come this week – is set to curtail his interest in signing another defensive midfielder.
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Arteta has not played a first-team match since he suffered the calf injury in the Champions League victory over Borussia Dortmund on 26 November, and will head into the new Premier League campaign on 8 August having not played for over eight months.
With the emergence last season of Francis Coquelin and the return to fitness of both Arteta and Wilshere, Arsenal have drifted away in the race to sigh Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin, with the Frenchman now likely to join Manchester United instead should the club cough up the “serious offer” that the Saints claim they are yet to receive.
Other names that cropped up on the Arsenal radar included Sporting Lisbon’s William Carvalho and Copa America winner Arturo Vidal, who helped Juventus reach the Champions League final last season. But having already signed former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, Arsenal transfer interest has dropped massively and the club are far from making any further signings before they get their pres-season campaign underway with a tour of Singapore later this month.
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