Fabrizio Romano reveals major “discussions” over Arteta’s Arsenal future
Mikel Arteta’s agent is “in talks” with Arsenal about extending his contract at the end of the season, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Pressure building on Arteta and Arsenal
Wayne Rooney believes Arsenal are cracking under the pressure of trying to secure their first Premier League title in 22 years.
Manchester City have reduced the gap on Arsenal to just six points ahead of Sunday’s clash between the two title rivals at the Etihad Stadium.
And while Rooney, who won the Premier League five times with Manchester United, insists Arsenal can still challenge City, even if they lose on Sunday, he believes Pep Guardiola’s side are now in a better position mentally.
Arsenal’s defeat to Bournemouth at the Emirates on Saturday followed back-to-back losses to City, in the Carabao Cup final, and to Southampton in the FA Cup, and Rooney, speaking on the BBC’s The Wayne Rooney podcast, said: “It’s pressure to try and win the Premier League.
“You hear a lot of people talking about the experience of winning league titles, and they have a few players who haven’t won the league yet, and that pressure is building.
“Obviously they still have a good chance of winning the league but they are showing signs of stumbling a bit, City knows the way, they have a manager who knows and they look strong.
“If you have won it, you can be quiet and not panic, but the Arsenal players will be looking for the right answers because they haven’t done that yet.
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“City will have the edge (mentally). They will be able to stay calmer than the Arsenal players, who will be worried because when you go on a run and lose a few games you start thinking: ‘Where is the next goal coming from?’ ‘Where will the next win come from?’ And that negative mindset really affects your performance. “
Fabrizio Romano shared Arteta’s contract update
Speaking on his own YouTube channel, Romano responded to calls for Arteta to be sacked and to link up with Cesc Fabregas, saying the club have no doubts about his future.
Of course, talks have been held with the Spanish representative, and will continue until the summer with the full focus on the pitch for now.
“Arsenal have been in active talks with Mikel Arteta’s lawyer since January, February to discuss a new contract.
“So there are ongoing contract negotiations between Arsenal and Arteta. Then the manager and the club together understand that they want to focus on the pitch, they decided together to focus on the pitch and then at the end of the season in the summer they restart the discussion, the length of the contract, the salary.
“They are talking, they are talking, we have to wait and see.”
