Mikel Arteta insists he won’t “lie” to Arsenal players about his future

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has admitted he can’t “lie” to his players about his future at the club when it comes to discussing new contracts for the likes of Bukayo Saka.

Arteta is set to be out of contract at the Emirates Stadium in summer 2027, and it’s not yet entirely clear if the Spanish tactician will commit his future to the Gunners.

Discussing this in his latest press conference, Arteta admitted he could stay beyond his current deal, but it’s also not something that seems 100% certain at the moment.

And when asked what this would mean for persuading star names like Saka to stay, Arteta made the interesting choice of saying he couldn’t “lie” to his players.

“Yes (I could stay), but it is about today and a lot of things have to happen in the next few months, as well, to earn the right,” Arteta said, as quoted by the Metro.

“I think the manager has to earn the right to be here tomorrow. That is how you react, how you talk here, how you go in the dressing room, the message that you send, how much the players follow you.”

On how it impacts his players, he added: “They do ask me but I can not lie to them. I don’t know, it is something that does not depend on me.

“Are you really happy here? Do you feel that you have the energy and you feel you can take this club? Yes. One hundred per cent, yes. But I think it does not depend only on me.”

Few could argue that Arteta has done anything other than a brilliant job at Arsenal since he took over in 2019.

It’s easy to forget now, but Arsenal were a mess when Arteta took over, and he’s now turned them into one of the best teams in Europe.

AFC keep on challenging for major titles under Arteta’s management, and all that’s missing now is that final step of picking up silverware, but that will surely come sooner rather than later.

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