Top striker secures deal worth £2.5 million a year with English Premier League club Arsenal National team target-man Nicklas Bendtner has extended his stay at Arsenal through to 2014, according to UK newspaper The Sun. The 21-year-old will reportedly earn...

National team target-man Nicklas Bendtner has extended his stay at Arsenal through to 2014, according to UK newspaper The Sun.

The 21-year-old will reportedly earn £2.5 million (21.5 million kroner) a year.

With the pre-season £25 million (216 million kroner) sale of forward Emmanuel Adebayor to Manchester City, Arsenal has given Bendtner the opportunity to prove he can be a top scorer in one of the world’s toughest football leagues.

Bendtner’s game has come alive since Adebayor’s departure. It had a challenge for head coach Arsene Wenger to fit the big lanky Dane’s unorthodox style into the starting line-up when Adebayor was playing.

Arsenal also got rid of unhappy defender Kolo Touré in the off-season, and Wenger believes he now has a ‘united’, healthy club that can win the league title.

Although Bendtner has played well of late, he did not score in Arsenal’s last two victories, a 2-0 win against Scottish side Celtic in the Champions League and a 6-1 thrashing of Premier League club Everton.