Arteta, who was appointed manager in December, said: ‘When I joined I wasn’t as positive as I was the last few weeks.
‘Financially we were in a position where it was difficult to get to where we wanted to get.
‘I think Auba had his doubts but things evolved in a natural way. I had a feeling the club wanted to move forward and a feeling Auba wanted to stay and we just had to glide those things together.
‘It was a conversation I had with Auba first, privately, and with his father and his agent.
