Arsenal offered Mikel Arteta contract despite losing streak to send "serious message"

dailystar.co.uk:

Mikel Arteta believes that Arsenal have sent a "serious message" by deciding to offer him a new contract on the back of a poor run of form.The Spaniard, who has been in charge since December 2019, signed a new long-term contract until 2025 on Friday to prolong his reign with the Gunners.

And the 39-year-old admitted he was left pleasantly surprised by the club’s willingness to extend his deal when the team were struggling for form after back-to-back defeats against Crystal Palace, Brighton and Southampton."The club offered me the contract when we lost three matches ...

that doesn't happen in football,” Arteta told reporters. “I got emotional when I saw it. That tells me, 'These guys are serious.’ I’m excited, grateful and really, really happy today."When I spoke to Josh [Kroenke] he could see the club at the same point and he wanted to take the club the way I wanted to do it.

So everything that he’s said, and that Stan [Kroenke] has said when I’ve been together with both of them, they’ve always delivered.”Under his management, Arsenal looked to be heading towards a period of mediocrity after successive eighth-placed finishes in his first season, with an FA Cup in 2019-20 making his first trophy as a manager.