Mikel Arteta has agreed a new contract with Arsenal, according to four outlets, although the Premier League champions have not announced it. BBC Sport's Sami Mokbel reported on Tuesday that Arteta had reached a final agreement with the club. The Athletic's David Ornstein reported the same day that he had agreed an improved contract.

Sky Sports and ESPN have since reported the agreement too. Sky's Kaveh Solhekol said the contract had not yet been signed, and that the club were not officially saying a deal was done, but that Sky understood an agreement had been in place for a couple of weeks. Arsenal declined to comment when contacted by ESPN.

What has not been confirmed

None of the four reports gives the length of the new deal. The BBC says there is no confirmation of it, but that the contract is set to take Arteta into at least his 10th year at the club since his appointment in December 2019.

No new salary has been reported either. The BBC says the contract includes a "sharp pay increase" on his current package of £10m a year plus £5m in bonuses. ESPN's sources describe a significant rise on a current salary that can reach £15m with bonuses.

The Athletic also reports that Arteta's backroom staff are in the process of renewing their own deals.

The contract he is on now

Arteta's current deal was signed in September 2024 and expires in the summer of 2027, which makes this season its final year. Sky notes that it too was completed during an international break, on 12 September that year.

He is already the longest-serving manager in England's top four divisions, according to Sky. Last season he led Arsenal to their first league title in 22 years, and to a Champions League final they lost on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain. ESPN reports that he reached 150 league wins last month in 249 games, a pace bettered only by Pep Guardiola, José Mourinho, Jürgen Klopp and Sir Alex Ferguson.

After Brighton

The news lands in the break that followed Arsenal's first league defeat of the season. Brighton won 3-0 at the Amex on 19 September, a week after the win at Sunderland that had taken Arsenal top. They now have 12 points from five games, three behind Manchester City, the only side with a perfect record.

The timing is not a reaction to that result. By Sky's account the agreement was already in place before the trip to Brighton, and Arteta was asked about his contract on the eve of it. He said he and the club were very much aligned, and added: "whenever the time is right, we'll get that done."

The club had signalled as much. Co-chair Josh Kroenke said in May that securing Arteta's future was the club's priority, and chief executive Richard Garlick told the BBC in August that the contract would be resolved "very shortly".

When it will be announced

Sky expects the contract to be signed during this international break, possibly within the next two weeks. ESPN's sources say confirmation could come before Arsenal's next match, at home to Leeds United on Saturday 10 October, kick-off 12:30 BST. Until the club confirms it, the length and the terms remain unreported.