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Arsenal have made their most important signing of the summer after the transfer window has closed

Mikel Arteta of Arsenal FC during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers FC at Emirates Stadium on August 17, 2024
-Credit: (Image: Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)


Arsenal may just have made their most important signing of the summer...after the transfer window has closed.

The Gunners made five new signings this summer but the biggest deal is set to be completed now the transfer window has officially closed until January. David Raya was the first one through the door, turning his loan from Brentford into a permanent deal.

Then, Edu and Mikel Arteta added Riccardo Calafiori, Mikel Merino, Neto - on loan from Bournemouth - and Raheem Sterling - on loan from Chelsea - to their ranks before the window shut on Friday, August 30.

It was a good summer transfer window for Arsenal, improving key areas that required strengthening for another shot at the Premier League title. But there were a number of contract issues that needed to be sorted too.

In the playing department, Jorginho and Thomas Partey have both entered the final year of their contracts and are free to speak to foreign clubs over a summer move in January. They could then leave for free to anywhere in the world next summer if they do not sign new terms at the Emirates Stadium.

There was another contract expiring next summer though - that of manager Mikel Arteta. Talks have been ongoing over extending the Spaniard's deal in north London and football.london understands that a new deal has now been agreed.

And it is extending Arteta's contract that may well turn out to be the best piece of business the Gunners have done this summer.

Arteta has been integral to Arsenal's improvement on the field since he joined the club in 2019. He followed up back-to-back eighth-placed finishes in the Premier League with a fifth-placed finish and then back-to-back runners-up finishes behind Manchester City in the last two seasons.

The Spaniard has transformed Arsenal and as a result has been linked with the Barcelona job on previous occasions, although this has been called out as "fake news" by the man himself.

With question marks over Pep Guardiola's future at Man City, Arteta has also been tipped to take over at the Etihad Stadium in the future, but a new three-year contract in north London will help to dispel any such rumours and give Arsenal the stability they require at manager level.