Arsene Wenger is widely reported to have signed a new contract to stay with Arsenal this summer, with an announcement pencilled in for tomorrow.
The Frenchman’s talks are not believed to have gone problem-free however, as the board are said to have been unhappy with their manager’s transfer dealings in recent years, and he has been ordered to arrange our transfers much earlier this summer.
His business has been blamed for the club’s dire campaign, and this season we finished in our lowest league position since Wenger joined, and the club is keen on returning to the Champions League for the 2018-19 season.
The manager will likely be given his most generous budget yet, as the club looks to assure itself of a much stronger campaign, and without a place in Europe’s elite competition, they may well push for a title challenge.
Wenger is expected to have a two-year contract announced tomorrow, but despite an official announcement, Twitter as well as many news sources are reported confirmation of his new deal, with it having been public knowledge that the 67 year-old and the board were to sit down today.
Arsenal won the FA Cup at the weekend, and it remains unknown whether he would have been staying on had he failed to return with a trophy for the campaign, but fans protests have been overlooked regardless.
Planes had been flown over stadiums brandishing banners with the hashtag #WengerOut, while staged walkouts were also put to plan during the season, but there appears to be no such reprieve this summer.
Stan Kroenke has also been the target of protests, with some blaming his control of the club for the recent downfall, and Alisher Usmanov will not have taken any of the pressure of the American after he publicly attempted to buy Kroenke’s shares this month.
Can Wenger get the fans back onside? Does anyone now doubt his new deal?
Pat J