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6 Months to Go: Will Arsene Wenger Sign a New Contract with Arsenal or Not?
- Updated: December 24, 2016
The January transfer window may be about to open, but the talk at Arsenal is not about new arrivals. Instead, discussion focuses on who at the club will be extending their contract. While the focus has understandably been on star players—notably Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil—the position of the club’s manager is in more immediate doubt. Alexis Sanchez and Ozil have deals until 2018, whereas Arsene Wenger has little over six months to run on his present contract.
Earlier this season, Wenger marked 20 years at Arsenal. The only thing more remarkable than the length of his tenure is the incredible legacy he will leave behind. However, at 67 years old he knows he is in the latter part of his reign. The question now is whether he will sign another new contract, or call it a day in 2017.
Right now, Wenger does not seem in a hurry to make a decision. Speaking to FourFourTwo, the Gunners boss said:
I always said that I will judge where I stand in spring and make my decisions then.
The club is free as well. It’s not because I am here a long time that I have any rights.
We are both on the same boat.
There are plenty of managers who arrived at the end of their contract. It happened to me before. I signed sometimes in March, April for longer contracts. So I don’t think it’s a problem.
Wenger may be downplaying the situation, but his position is almost unique in world football. After all, few managers have the autonomy to decide for themselves whether or not they wish to continue. Arsenal’s chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, seems to posses neither the desire nor the authority to determine who will be the club’s manager for 2017/18. Realistically, if Wenger wants the job, it’s his. The Gunners boss occasionally alludes to considering the opinion of the supporters, but it’s really just lip service: The decision is his.
He may feel he deserves to stay on and enjoy the club’s newfound financial muscle. When Arsenal moved from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium in 2006, they incurred significant short-term debts that hampered his ability to bring in top players. He was effectively forced to develop young talent, selling them off when they reached optimum value. In this period, Wenger performed miracles on a shoestring budget, …
