There have been bigger signings.

There have been more expensive signings.

There have been trophies, stadium developments, record-breaking transfers and moments thatwill live forever in Arsenal history.

But Mikel Arteta agreeing a new contract yesterday might just be the most important thing Arsenal’s board has done this century.

That sounds like an outrageous claim when you remember the early 2000s, the move to the Emirates, the end of Arsène Wenger’s reign and everything that followed. But look at what Arsenal are now, and then look at where we were when Arteta arrived in December 2019.

The difference is enormous.

And it is not simply about winning football matches – Arsenal finally have a long-term identity again.

Arteta inherited an Arsenal team that had lost its way.

The club had finished fifth under Arsène Wenger in 2016-17, sixth in 2017-18 and fifth again in 2018-19 before Unai Emery’s reign unravelled. When Arteta took over, Arsenal were sitting 10th in the Premier League.

He was not arriving as an established managerial superstar. This was his first senior managerial job.

What followed was a rebuild that required patience, difficult decisions and, crucially, an extraordinary amount of faith from the hierarchy.

The FA Cup arrived in his first season. There were setbacks afterwards. Arsenal finished eighth in 2020-21. They finished fifth the following campaign.

There was plenty of ammunition for people who believed Arsenal had made the wrong appointment. Instead, the club stuck with him.

That patience eventually produced a team capable of challenging Manchester City, returning Arsenal to the Champions League and finishing second in the Premier League three consecutive times.

Then, last season, Arsenal finally crossed the line.

The 2025-26 Premier League title ended a 22-year wait. Arsenal had gone from a club wondering where its identity had gone toEnglish champions under the manager who had been trusted to rebuild it.

And that is why yesterday mattered.

The board isn’t simply renewing the contract of a manager who won a trophy.

It is reaffirming the strategy that got Arsenal here.

There is an understandable temptation to view anew contract as a reward for winning the league.

It is that, of course. But it is also much more than that.

Arteta has already demonstrated that hisArsenal can compete at the very highest level. Last season, the club won its first league title since 2004 and also reached only its second Champions League final, eventually losing to Paris Saint-Germain on penalties. 

That combination matters.

Arsenal are no longer simply trying to get back into the Champions League. We are trying to win it.

They are no longer trying to challenge for the Premier League. We are defending it.

And we are no longer wondering whether the Arteta project can produce the biggest domestic prize. It already has.

The question now is what comes next.

That makes continuity incredibly valuable.

Arsenal’s biggest asset right now is not any single player. The clubs can replace players. They can replace executives. They can rebuild squads.

But replacing the person who has spent nearly seven years establishing how the entire organisationoperates is different.

Arteta’s influence stretches far beyond the touchline.

His Arsenal is recognisable in the way the team plays, the standards expected at thetraining ground, the recruitment profile and the culture surrounding the first team.

The meticulous environment Arteta has cultivated at Arsenal, including unusual exercises designed to improve players’ alertness and prepare them for unexpectedmatch-day situations, is now being copied by managers up and down the country.

Whether you love every tactical decision he makes is beside the point. Arsenal know what they are trying to be. That is incredibly difficult to build.

And once you have built it, you don’t casually throw it away.

Arsenal’s board has not always enjoyed universal approval from supporters. That is football.

Every transfer becomes a referendum. Every contract negotiation becomes a drama. Everypoor result produces questions about ownership, recruitment, coaching and ambition.

But the decision to continue backing Arteta deserves enormous credit. Especially because the club could easily have panicked during those difficult early periods.

They didn’t.

Instead, they backed the manager through an FA Cup triumph followed by a disappointing league campaign. They backed him as thesquad was rebuilt. They backed him when Arsenal were close but not quite close enough.

And now they have backed him again.

According to reports, Arteta’s new agreement will take him beyond a decade at the Emirates. The exact contractual details are still being formally completed, but the agreement represents a clear commitment from both sides. 

That is what a long-term football project issupposed to look like.

But there is still work today. This Arsenal are not a finished project. Far from it.

The 3-0 defeat at Brighton last weekend was a useful reminder that being champions does notmake you invincible. Arsenal had won their first four league games before that defeat and were comprehensively beaten at the Amex. 

There will be more bad afternoons.

There will be transfer decisions that don’t work.

There will be tactical arguments.

There will be moments when supporters wonder why Arteta has done that.

Good.

That’s football.

The important thing is that Arsenal now have the stability to deal with those moments without immediately questioning the entire directionof the club.

That stability is worth more than another shiny transfer announcement.

Think about what Arsenal have spent the last decade searching for.

Stability.

Identity.

Elite standards.

A coherent recruitment strategy.

A team capable of competing for the biggest trophies.

A manager capable of developing players while simultaneously dealing with the enormous pressure that comes with managing Arsenal.

They now have all of those things.

And the person at the centre of it has chosen to stay.

That’s why this contract feels different.

The Premier League title was the culmination of years of work. The new contract is the decision to protect that work rather than treatthe championship as the conclusion of the story.

It is a statement that Arsenal don’t want one great season.They want an era.

And perhaps that is the most important distinction of all.

Arsenal’s board has spent years trying to put the club back where supporters believe it belongs.

Yesterday, they made the decision to keep the person who finally got them there.

The trophies will ultimately decide how Arteta’s reign is remembered.

The Champions League may determine whetherit becomes genuinely historic.

But whatever happens next, extending Mikel Arteta is arguably the clearest sign yet that Arsenal finally understand something they have been searching for throughout this century:

The most important thing isn’t simply getting back to the top. It’s building something strong enough to stay there.

Keenos