Arsenal Set To Announce Double Deal As Two Key Players Sign New Contracts

Arsenal are set to announce that skipper Mikel Arteta and striker Olivier Giroud have signed new contract extensions at the club, according to the Mirror.

Arteta’s current deal was due to expire at the end of the season but the newspaper claims that the 32-year-old has now penned a one-year extension keeping him at the club until at least 2016.

The Spaniard moved to the Emirates from Everton in 2011 as a creative midfielder but Arsene Wenger soon converted him into a holding midfielder and he’s been one of the first names on the team-sheet ever since.

He’s always been a professional and given his best for the club, and was rewarded for his efforts by being named as captain following Thomas Vermaelen’s exit in the summer.

However, many fans feel Arteta’s time as a first team regular should be over as his lack of pace and physical presence in the middle of the park has caused us problems – particularly against the bigger teams – so this news of a new deal is sure to be met by a mixed response from the Arsenal faithful.

It comes after Arsene Wenger confirmed that striker Olivier Giroud has also been handed a new deal with the Mirror suggesting the 28-year-old has agreed a two-year extension tying him to the club until 2018.

The boss told reporters at his press conference on Tuesday when quizzed about Giroud’s new contract:

“It is done. It will be done. We will announce it when it is completely finished.

“We want stability and we want to keep the core of our team together because I am a great believer in that.

“We have a young bunch of players now, and the core of our team is now basically young English talents, and I believe as well that Giroud is an important player here.”

Giroud is another player that divides opinion among fans with some acknowledging that he brings something different to the team while others feel he simply isn’t good enough to lead the line for a team like Arsenal.

Having agreed new deals, Arteta and Giroud become the latest first team players to commit their futures to the club following in the footsteps of  Laurent Koscielny, Santi Cazorla and Tomas Rosicky – who were all handed new deals towards the end of last season.

The Mirror claim that we will officially announce the double deal during the upcoming international break and then turn our attention to trying to tie-down Theo Walcott – with the forward’s deal due to expire in 2016 – but the club are understood to be confident he will commit himself to a new contract.