I Will Extend My Contract Says Arsenal
– Wenger
Reports coming
out of London has it that Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger has
decided to stay at the club. The Daily Telegraph and Daily Mirror said Wenger
will inform Arsenal’s board he wants to extend his contract, which expires at
the end of the season. Wenger who has come under fire from fans after Arsenal
were thrashed by Bayern Munich in the Champions League and slipped out of the
Premier League’s top four. Supporters renewed calls for him to step down during
and after Saturday’s 3-1 loss at West Bromwich Albion, with some holding up “WENGER
OUT” banners.
Speaking after
the game, Wenger said he had made up his mind about his future and would make
his intentions public “very soon”. West Brom manager Tony Pulis said Wenger had
told him he intended to stay. “I’ll be surprised if he goes,” Pulis told
reporters after Saturday’s game, as revealed in Monday’s newspapers. Asked why
he thought Wenger would stay, Pulis replied: “Because he told me.” Arsenal have
not commented on the reports on Wenger’s future. The Frenchman, Arsenal’s
manager since 1996, is believed to have been offered a new two-year contract. Arsenal’s
support is split over Wenger, who won seven trophies in his first nine seasons
as manager but has won only two FA Cups in the 12 years since.
Rival groups of
Arsenal supporters paid for planes trailing banners that were both critical and
supportive of him to fly over the stadium during the game against West Brom. One
banner read “NO CONTRACT #WENGER OUT”, the other: “IN ARSENE WE TRUST
#RESPECTAW”. The defeat at West Brom was Arsenal’s fourth in five league games
and left them in sixth place in the Premier League table, six points below the
Champions League places with two games in hand. They recently lost 10-2 on
aggregate to Bayern in the Champions League, going out in the round of 16 for
the seventh season running. Wenger said his future at Arsenal was not
contingent on the club securing a place in next season’s Champions League.
“My decision
will not necessarily be linked with that because I’ve done the top four 20
times. It’s more. It’s not that,” he said.
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