After many permutations and combinations, Arsene Wenger seems to have won the confidence of the Arsenal hierarchy as according to reports he has agreed to a two-year contract which will keep him at the club till 2019. There were strong rumours this season after the Gunners missed out on a top-four spot for the first time in 20 years that this might be Wenger’s last year at the Emirates and the French manager had himself hinted a number of times that he could bid goodbye to the North London club which he has been managing since 1996.
Arsenal finished the season on a positive note as they won the FA Cup for a record 13th time. Wenger had participated among seven of them as he is now the manager with the most number of FA Cups.
Had they not won the FA Cup this time, there could have been a new twist in the managerial role as the name of Max Allegri had been rounded up a number of times as his potential replacement. The Juventus manager has done a great job with Juventus as the Turin club are on their way towards a treble if they manage to get the better of Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
Wenger now has to start afresh and he needs to approach with a more modern structure to cope up with the new age managers. So let bygones be bygones. The French manager doesn’t tend to spend big in the transfer market but at times he did flaunt his chequebook when he signed Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Shkodran Mustafi and Granit Xhaka.
One of the first things Wenger needs to make sure is the renewal of Ozil and Sanchez’s contracts. Both the players have one year left on their respective contracts and have been stalling a new deal. Given their performance in this season, Sanchez deserves a much heftier pay packet than the German playmaker.
The Chilean is said to have offers from a number of clubs including Chelsea, Manchester City and Bayern Munich. Sanchez has been one of the few players who has shown the urge to give his all and Wenger knows he has to stick with Sanchez if the club is to give a much better performance than this season.
Arsenal’s billionaire owners have the cash to back Wenger with sufficient money and according to reports, the club hierarchy have offered a new bracket of wage to these two players in the tune of £30m. Mesut Ozil is expected to sign on the dotted line and we could expect Sanchez to pledge his future to the club very soon.
