Arteta Will Stay One More Year

On Thursday the news broke that Mikel Arteta had undergone surgery on his ankle injury and would miss three months of football. This led to speculation in the media that he may have played his last game for the club as by the time he is fit to play again there won't be many games left to play in and he might find opportunities limited if Arsenal recruit a replacement this window.

Arteta's contract runs out in the summer although there were reports of Arteta being offered a one year extension back in September taking him to June 2016 with an annoucement expected during the International break but it never came.

With news of Arteta's injury rumours abound that the Arsenal captain will find himself looking for a new club in the summer and Arsenal looking to appoint a new captain. You could claim a free bet on who will be the next captain or as that's pretty clear use it for this weekend's match in which we really could do with Arteta!

There are those amongst the Arsenal faithful who are pleased at the idea of Arteta moving on as they feel it will force the club into purchasing a successor and others feel his legs have gone and his time at Arsenal has run its natural course. There's no denying that Arteta has been a fabulous player for Arsenal and possibly one that will never truly be appreciated unless, like Gilberto, we fail to adequately replace him but a quick objective look at Arsenal's fortunes without him tells you all you need to know about his importance to the team.

The Anderlect return game is a prime example of this. Leading 3-0, Arteta injured himself and the team capitulated and surrendered their three goal advantage which would have seen them finish top of the group however the draw has been favourable so there is no point in grumbling. The essence of the point remains true though, Arteta holds the midfield together.

Mikel isn't the huge physical presence in the middle people are desparate for however he is a huge tactical presence. He understands the game and reads it extremely well. He isn't a crunching tackler but often his positioning and ability to read where the player is going to go makes him an incredible interceptor of the ball and he often steals the ball from the toes of his opponent before making a simple yet effective pass that sets Arsenal on their way.

His ability to break up play is often underrated at Arsenal by those who bemoan his size but the best defensive midfielder of the past generation was Claude Makelele and he wasn't even average height! Intelligence is the greatest skill a footballer can possess and Arteta has that in bundles. His legs may be going but his mind is as potent as ever which has led to a number of suggestions that he could be kept on as a player/coach.

Arteta would be a useful addition to the youth coaching set up and would be a fantastic bridge between the first-team playing staff and the first-team coaching staff too. His influence and importance in the dressing room should not be so carelessly discarded - we've been burned by that in the past - and Arsenal seem to think the same as reports today are claiming they will honour the offer of a one year extension.

Should Arteta stay on the playing staff I don't think that will make us refrain from purchasing a successor as having a handover is always preferrable so even if it isn't this January we should see Arteta's replacement in the summer and hopefully they aren't passing one another through the gates at Colney.

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