Controversial Arsenal contract clauses sum up Mikel Arteta changes

Arsenal are on course to land their first Premier League trophy since their Invincibles team landed the title without losing a single game during the 2003/04 season. The Gunners are currently eight points clear of second-place Manchester City at the top of the top-flight table. But they weren’t always flying so high under Mikel Arteta. And in fact, controversial clauses that were regularly inserted in players’ contracts as recently as two years ago seem utterly ridiculous now.

Arsenal have 10 games remaining to pick up the points needed to cement the title. But in December 2020, the Gunners were languishing in 15th position in the table after winning just four of their first 14 matches of the campaign. Arteta’s side were just four points above the relegation zone – and there were genuine concerns that the team could be relegated.

Such was the worry at the Emirates Stadium that club chiefs decided to insert clauses into the contracts of players that would see their wages slashed by 25 per cent in the event of relegation to the Championship, according to The Mirror.

At the time, the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Willian were earning £300,000 per week and £200,000 per week respectively. And Arsenal bosses wanted to safeguard the club’s best interests. The clauses would have reportedly saved the Gunners a staggering £37.5million a season if they dropped down to the second tier. 

But the north Londoners’ anxieties were misplaced. Arsenal eventually enjoyed an upturn in fortunes that season and finished the campaign in eighth position after reaching the semi-finals of the Europa League.

And the club have been on an upward trajectory ever since. Last season, the Gunners finished fifth in the Premier League as they missed out on Champions League qualification on the final day of the campaign. But this time around, things have started to click and they could even end their long wait for a title.

Arsenal started the season in fine form after signing Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City and trusting William Saliba to step up at centre-back. And they stormed to the top of the table after winning their opening five matches.

Many pundits tipped the Gunners to go off the boil as the season progressed, with Gary Neville among those who thought Pep Guardiola’s City side would eventually topple them. But Arsenal have kept their momentum going and are continuing to deliver results week after week.

And if the Gunners can hold their nerve over the next couple of months, they will become champions against all the odds. That would surely surprise those same people who were conjuring up relegation clauses just a few years ago.