Arteta contract call sees Arsenal risk repeating Man United’s Solskjaer mistake

Timing is everything. When Manchester United gave Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a new contract after losing in the final of the Europa League, the move didn’t exactly have the impact they had hoped.

Though he had shown constant progression with his United side, reaching a European final and achieving a second-place Premier League finish, rewarding Solskjaer before he’d really done anything of note sent out the wrong message to the United squad. Many fans have complained that this season the squad have shown a lack of desire and have rested on their laurels.

Combine this with a lack of support in the transfer market and several players either being injured or out of form and the result was Solskjaer being unceremoniously sacked in November. But how does the Norwegian’s situation reflect what is happening at Arsenal?

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Mikel Arteta has created a great project at Arsenal. The squad is incredibly likeable, as United’s was under Solskjaer for his first two seasons, and has shown constant progression under the Spanish manager. His contract was set to expire at the end of next season but he has now extended his stay at the London club until 2025.

As I said, however, timing is everything. Arsenal are in the race for a top-four position which would guarantee Champions League football for next season. This could be the crucial point in their project under Arteta and would show the progress the team have made.

So, to offer him a contract now before he has achieved the team’s goal for the season seems short-sighted, especially when they only have to wait a few weeks to see whether Arsenal will be playing in the Champions League next season. Both Arteta and Solskjaer had something to prove before they were appointed and the question the fans will and did ask is whether they proved it before the club put all their eggs in one basket.

Doubts like that are what breed division in the fanbase. And it could spell disaster in the long term if the worst-case scenario comes to pass.

Arsenal will be hoping that an extension will signal to the football world that they are fully behind Arteta moving forward, but if the club miss out on a top-four finish and things start to go wrong, then what do they do? Will they stick behind Arteta or will they look to replace him and start again as United have now had to do with Erik ten Hag?

It is a dilemma and there are multiple factors to consider, but it does seem short-sighted. Hopefully, from the perspective of United fans, Arsenal’s project does fail and it makes it easier for Ten Hag to succeed.

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