Theo Walcott and Santi Cazorla pen new long-term deals at Arsenal

Theo Walcott and Santi Cazorla have signed new long-term contracts at Arsenal. Walcott put pen to paper on Thursday afternoon on a four-year deal which is worth £140,000-a-week and replaces his old £100,000-a-week terms, which were set to expire next summer.

Cazorla had earlier agreed his extension but the club waited until Walcott had signed so that they could make a double announcement on Friday at midday, ahead of Sunday's Community Shield against Chelsea at Wembley.

Walcott, 26, is the club’s longest-serving player, having arrived from Southampton in January 2006 and he has now become one of the top earners, his new contract putting him in the same pay bracket as Mesut Özil and Alexis Sánchez.

Cazorla, 30, is another crowd favourite and he excelled last season when he was switched into a deeper-lying midfield position. He joined from Málaga in the summer of 2012.

The manager, Arsène Wenger, said: “We’re delighted to have extended the contracts of Santi and Theo. Both are top quality players who are hugely important and influential to our squad.

“As well as their huge contributions on the pitch, they both have a great deal of experience and are very popular off the pitch. We’re very pleased with them both signing contract extensions, as it provides our squad with further stability of quality.”