After a truly underwhelming campaign which saw their team slid into mid-table obscurity, many Arsenal fans were hoping to see the back of manager Mikel Arteta at the end of the season but they may be in for a shocker with the club’s board reportedly in support of the Spaniard continuing in his position.
According to Fabrizio Romano, an authoritative source of credible transfer news, the club will sit with Arteta to plan for the new signings ahead of the coming season.
Writing on his verified Twitter handle, Romano tweeted:
“Arsenal are still backing Mikel Arteta and he’ll stay. The club is planning with the Spanish manager about next transfers window and new signings. ⚪️???? #AFC
“The decision to not offer David Luiz a new contract was made together between player, board and approved by Arteta. ????????”
This will come as a piece of bad news for the fans who saw their team knocked out of the Europa League at the semi-final stage by Spain’s Villarreal on 2-1 aggregate. The Gunners were unable to score the required single goal in the return leg after they’d lost by two goals to one in Spain a week earlier.
The painful ouster, coupled with a mid-table finish in the Premier League behind the likes of West Ham, Leicester City and Everton as well as early elimination from the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup have left the fans justifiably angered with the manager.
With the turn of events, the club appears stuck with Arteta for at least another season unless something dramatic happens during the season which may require wielding the big stick on him.
With two rounds of games left to play, Arsenal are currently in 9th spot on 55 points. They play away to Crystal Palace before ending their season at home with the final game against Brighton.
