Arsenal’s summer planning is moving on two fronts at once: a transfer wish list that includes Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers and Bournemouth’s Eli Junior Kroupi, and a contract decision for Mikel Arteta that the club wants settled before next season.
That is why Arteta is being searched now. Arsenal have just closed a season that delivered their first domestic title in 22 years, and the manager’s future is no longer a background issue. He earns £10m a year, plus another £5m if Arsenal qualify for the Champions League, but sources say any new deal would run for at least three years and come with a major increase that would make him the highest-paid manager in England.
Arteta’s current contract runs until the end of next season, so the club is working from a position of momentum rather than urgency. Arsenal held talks over fresh terms last month, but those discussions were shelved so the focus could stay on the end of the campaign. At the time the latest report landed, the season was done, the title had been celebrated with an euphoric trophy parade in north London on Sunday, and the club had turned to what comes next.
The names on the transfer list matter because they point to the sort of squad-building Arsenal are preparing for after a year that ended with both triumph and disappointment. Rogers, who helped Villa push into Europe’s top competition, and Kroupi are understood to sit among the targets being monitored as Arsenal shape a summer window that could decide whether the title is a one-off or the start of a longer run.
There is still a gap between intent and action. Arsenal want to finalise Arteta’s new deal well before the start of next season, but nothing was expected to be signed before he returned from holiday. Josh Kroenke has already made the club’s position plain, saying keeping Arteta around is an utmost priority and that he is enjoying the project. That leaves the manager’s extension and the pursuit of the summer targets moving on parallel tracks, with the first decision likely to set the tone for the second.
For now, the most important unanswered question is not whether Arsenal admire Rogers and Kroupi. It is which of these names, if any, they will actually move for once Arteta is back and the contract is in place.
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