Mikel Arteta has admitted Arsenal must be playing in the Champions League if he wants to take the club to the next level after the Spaniard signed a new long-term deal on Friday morning.
The Gunners currently sit in fourth spot, two points ahead of north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur with four games to go. Third-place Chelsea are not completely out of the mix either, but are still likely to finish inside the top-four given their remaining fixtures and points gap.
Ahead of Arsenal's clash with Leeds United this weekend, Arteta has penned a new contract which will keep him at the Emirates Stadium until the end of the 2024/25 season. This will take the Spaniard's reign to over five years after he replaced Unai Emery in December 2019.
During his time in charge, the Gunners won the FA Cup in 19/20 but also finished eighth in the Premier League last season. However, Arsenal's top-flight form has improved drastically this term and are 14 points better off than at this stage last campaign.
There is no doubt the Gunners have progressed under Arteta in recent months and the former Manchester City coach is hoping qualifying for the Champions League will help continue their progress. He also added that this could help 'generate even more connection' with their supporters.
He told the Arsenal website : "To take the club to the next level and to compete really with the top teams. In order to do that, we have to be playing in the Champions League.
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"We have to be able to evolve the team, improve our players, improve all departments, generate even more connection with our fans, improve the atmosphere at the Emirates, be able to recruit top, top talent and the best people for this club to drive this project to that level."
He added: "The club was really eager to do it (new contract) as quickly as we could. Obviously they showed a lot of faith and belief in what we are doing, with the coaching staff, what the direction of the team, and they thought the best moment was to do it right now, to give a final push to the team, to give some clarity about what we have to do in the summer, in the future.
"It’s a way of saying ‘listen, from both ways we believe in what we are doing and we want to commit to this project together.’ And this is the place I want to be, so it was a really simple decision for me."
