Arsène Wenger will tell Arsenal’s directors to watch a recording of Saturday’s FA Cup final victory over Chelsea if they have any doubt about his suitability to stay on as the club’s manager.
The saga of Wenger’s future will finally be resolved this week, with an announcement set for Wednesday – the day after a meeting of the full board, which Wenger himself will attend as usual. Wenger has made it clear he thinks he ought to be allowed to continue into what would be his 22nd season at the club while he says he knows “what I would like to happen”.
The chairman, Sir Chips Keswick, announced on 9 March the decision on the manager’s future would be taken mutually and Wenger has now put the ball into the board’s court with what amounts to a demand for them to back him.
The Frenchman is expected – overwhelmingly so – to stay, despite the opposition of a voluble section of the club’s fanbase. Nobody has said, for sure, that he will do so. The majority shareholder, Stan Kroenke, will be at the meeting, together with his son, Josh, who joined the board in 2013. Also in attendance will be the chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, Keswick, the directors Ken Friar and Lord Harris of Peckham, and the club secretary, David Miles.
Wenger said: “We live in a society that always wants change but, at the end of the day, football is about making the right decision and every company is about making the right decision. That’s why I say it’s not about popularity, it’s about competence and I have not got that responsibility. It’s the board who has to decide who will lead the club in the future and, if they want me, I have to decide: ‘Do I say yes or no?’”
Wenger was asked about the format of the meeting and whether he might have to make a presentation to the directors that outlined why they should persist with him. “The best presentation? Watch the game [from Saturday],” he said. “And there can be no doubt.”
It has long been accepted that Wenger, whose contract expires next month, has had the offer of a two-year deal on the table since the early months of the season. There has been persistent talk that he agreed, in principle, to the terms of it in December.
But more recently the dynamics appeared to have changed, with Gazidis pushing his “catalyst for change” agenda in response to the team’s slump, which began at the end of January. They lost seven of 12 matches in all competitions and, despite an end-of-season rally, they finished fifth in the Premier League and missed out on Champions League qualification.
Gazidis has come to feel that tweaks and improvements have to be made to various structures, including coaching and scouting, but Wenger has made plain his opposition to some of them – particularly the notion of a director of football. A power struggle has developed between him and Gazidis, and Wenger was evasive when he was asked whether he felt he retained the board’s backing. “I don’t think I can answer that question at the moment,” he said.
Wenger did confess to a regret – he ought to have resolved the issue of his future sooner. He talked immediately after the Cup final about how the “uncertainty” over it had affected the players. He added: “For me the contract does not have a special meaning but, because of the debate, I should have sorted that out earlier.”
The club captain, Per Mertesacker, one of the stars of the Wembley win, said of the manager: “He was happy but quiet after the game. We’re all waiting for Tuesday. There was great relief on Saturday night but it didn’t feel as if it was the end. We don’t know how the decision will go. I’m sure he wants to continue.”
