Arsenal have handed Mikel Arteta a fresh contract through 2030, and reports suggest the new agreement has taken his salary to twice its previous level. That rise is believed to make him the best-paid manager in the Premier League.

Arteta explained what the club means to him after committing his future.

“This club is unique, its character and the way it makes you feel, and I have a great sense of privilege that our journey together will continue. We have already built a special bond and created memories that will last a lifetime, and what is so exciting is that this is only the beginning of what we can achieve together.”

According to The Times, he is now thought to earn more than £20 million ($26.4 million) each season across a deal that runs for the next four years. With Pep Guardiola no longer the Premier League’s highest earner, Arteta is understood to occupy a category of his own in the domestic game.

His earnings are also said to place him above some of the biggest names in world football. Only Atlético Madrid’s Diego Simeone and Paris Saint-Germain’s back-to-back Champions League winner Luis Enrique are mentioned as approaching those levels.

The second-highest paid manager in the Premier League is reported to be on the opposite side of north London. Tottenham Hotspur’s Roberto De Zerbi is said to earn £12 million ($15.9 million) per year, according to ESPN.

De Zerbi arrived at a difficult moment for Spurs last spring, with the club in serious trouble and fighting to avoid relegation. Since then, his influence has extended beyond the dugout, with the transfer window suggesting he has a major say in spending decisions as well as his own financial package.

For Arsenal, though, the message is clear. Arteta has been rewarded not only with security until 2030, but with a salary that now stands above every other manager in the Premier League.

Mikel Arteta’s new Arsenal contract is more than a reward for success on the pitch. It is also recognition of the value he has created while working within a financial structure that has rarely made life easy.

For years, the numbers have backed up a simple truth: wages explain a huge amount about where clubs finish, but not everything. That still leaves room for managers who can tilt the balance, and Arteta has become one of the clearest examples of that idea in the Premier League.

Across the 2022-23 to 2025-26 seasons, Arsenal collected more top-flight points than any other club in the division, finishing with 332, just ahead of Manchester City’s 329. Yet over that same period, they ranked only fifth for wage spending. In other words, Arsenal have consistently performed above the financial level suggested by their pay structure.

The contrast is even sharper when viewed over Arteta’s wider spell in charge. Arsenal have never had the most expensive squad in the league during his tenure, and they entered this summer with the fifth-costliest roster in the division at $1.15 billion. That is a heavy investment, but still not enough to put them among the biggest spenders in the league table of assembled talent.

Arteta has not hidden his frustration at times. In January 2025, he spoke of Arsenal’s “certain limitations” in the market, then later that month described the squad as “one of the thinnest squads in the league.” Yet the broader trend has still moved upward, with the wage bill rising every year since the group was refreshed with younger players in 2021.

This season has begun with a sense of evolution too. Arsenal appear to have more positional freedom, more movement and more variation in attack. Riccardo Calafiori has added another layer from left back, Martin Ødegaard looks revived after Norway’s historic World Cup run, and Declan Rice’s role has shifted again as he takes on even more responsibility.

Arteta may not always be universally praised in the way some peers are. But Arsenal’s results, spending profile and early title defence all point to the same conclusion: he has earned every bit of his new deal.

Arsenal head into the September-October international break with their defensive picture still unsettled, even if there has been some welcome movement in training. The week has brought both encouragement and concern, with Ezri Konsa’s withdrawal from the England squad standing out as the main worry.

There is better news on Ben White, Piero Hincapié and Cristhian Mosquera, all of whom are back on the training pitch. White and Mosquera were unavailable for Arsenal’s 3–0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion before club football paused, while Hincapié was named among the substitutes for that match and then did not report for Ecuador duty.

Konsa’s situation is more troubling. According to England manager Thomas Tuchel, the defender had been carrying discomfort in recent weeks, which suggests his involvement for the Three Lions was always a risk. He played 90 minutes against Spain, missed the win over Czechia, and then completed another full match in the victory over Croatia.

“Ezri came into camp with discomfort. [He] played against Spain which made it worse. He stayed in camp and tried everything for the match in Croatia and gave the green light,” Tuchel explained, which is sure to annoy Arsenal fans.

“Unfortunately, he got another hit on the quad and it caused some light trauma. We decided to not let him play through the pain again. Nothing major but not worth taking the risk.”

That leaves a question mark over Konsa’s availability for Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Leeds United. He was brought in late in the summer window and has already been used next to Gabriel because William Saliba is sidelined with a back injury. Saliba is not expected back until November at the earliest, so Mosquera may be the next option to step in, even if his match fitness is uncertain.

White and Hincapié are natural centre backs who have been adapted since joining the club, though White could still be required at right back. Jurrien Timber started against Brighton and played for an hour before being replaced by Martín Zubimendi, who has become a familiar defensive option despite being out of favour in midfield. Timber, who has spent an estimated 461 days injured since arriving in the summer of 2023, is aware of the need for caution.

“I have to be very smart about the steps we take. Otherwise, I’ll suffer a setback, and I don’t want that,” Timber told reporters this week.