We knew it was coming. You knew it was coming… Arsene Wenger is going absolutely nowhere.
No planes or banners or signs in the background of innumerable events can seemingly force the Arsenal boss away from the Emirates helm as Wenger has committed his future to the club until 2019, with a two-year extension confirmed on Wednesday afternoon.
The Frenchman has experienced pressure before but the cries for him to leave have never been louder than they’ve been in recent months.
But, alas, he remains.
The Premier League’s permanent fixture will continue to fumble at his zip for a further two seasons and faces an uphill struggle if he is to win his critics over.
The best PR move possible for Wenger and the Arsenal board would be a statement-making transfer window in which average players, of which there are a few at Arsenal, are replaced by legitimate world class talent.
Time to clear the deadwood https://t.co/c5LZUIaJOU
— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) May 31, 2017
As supporters came to terms with the fact that there would be no changing of the guard in their dugout, they awaited an update from their long-serving manager in relation to how he intended to approach the transfer market.
With Alexis Sanchez expected to push for a move to Bayern Munich and Mesut Ozil continuing to stall on his contract offer, it looks like it will be a busy summer for Wenger.
And here’s what he said about it after signing his deal.
“First of all, we have a very heavy squad at the moment so maybe we might lose some players,” Wenger told Arsenal.com. “We want to keep the strength we have and build on that. We will work very hard to find the additions of top, top quality.
“I believe that our squad is very strong and we will only look for top-class people who can strengthen our team now. The basis is there so we need the additions who will make a real difference.
As suspected https://t.co/kIVCRRa3Ka
— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) May 31, 2017
“First of all, we look at the top, top quality available.
“We have seen in the recent games against Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United that we are a very strong team. For us it’s very important that we only consider the players who can really make a difference, no matter where it is.”
When asked about the non-playing side of managing the club, Wenger insisted that the focus was on striving for improvement.
“On that front, we always want to be better,” he added. “We live in a very competitive world where everybody tries to get better.
“We look to be stronger everywhere. We want to perform better in every department, so of course we want to have the best team around the team. We look at everything. We forget that we have top-quality people already and, if you look closely at the players who left us, every player who came here became a better player.
“We have a very good record with the team and the improvement of the players here. We have to continue that but we are also looking everywhere to become even better.”
