Mikel Arteta drops big hint on future and warns Arsenal will be 'very aggressive' in summer transfer market

The 42-year-old’s current deal is set to expire in the summer of 2025 and although initial expectations were for renewal discussions to commence at the end of last season, the focus has shifted. Nonetheless, Arteta believes that everything will fall into place at the right time and "it will happen".

Speaking to ESPN, Arteta revealed: "There is no update [on his contract] at the moment. The thing that hasn't changed is how happy I am and how valued I feel here and how much I love representing this club. Things happen in a natural way and our relationship is that good that I don't predict any issues happening. But things have to develop in the right way and it will happen."

Arteta has also outlined Arsenal's ambitions for the summer transfer window, indicating that the club will adopt an aggressive approach. The manager revealed that the Gunners are looking to strengthen various departments and not just their attack.

"We are looking to improve in every possible department," he said. "With the new regulations, there are certain things we have to respect and be conscious of and then obviously the Euros and Copa América are slowing everything down. Hopefully, now it is going to pick up a little bit because we have things to go and we will try to provide that. [How active do we expect to be?] I think both ways. There are things that we have to improve, that's for sure and we are going to try to do. But the market is tricky. We have been very aggressive, we are very determined and we have a clear idea obviously of what we want to do. It will come down to finding the right agreements at the right time."

Arteta has assembled a squad of nine players not involved in Euro 2024 or the Copa América for a training camp in Marbella. Arsenal’s preseason will kick off against Bournemouth on July 24 before they fly across the Atlantic to Los Angeles to face Manchester United at SoFi Stadium on July 27 and Liverpool in Philadelphia on July 31.