WENGER HINTS HE’LL TAKE A JOB OVERSEAS

ARSENE WENGER watched his makeshift side suffer a dramatic late defeat — then hinted that he would not be managing in England next year. After Marouane Fellaini’s stoppage-time winner, United boss Jose Mourinho said he hoped to lock horns with the outgoing Frenchman again. However, Wenger said another meeting with the Portuguese was unlikely. ‘He will be at United next year, certainly, and I don’t know where I will be,’ said the Arsenal manager. ‘I am in unknown territory. Will I take a break? I will be surprised if I meet him next year.’ The Frenchman, who made eight changes with one eye on Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid, was presented with an engraved vase by old adversary Sir Alex Ferguson and Mourinho before kick-off and was given a warm reception by United’s supporters. ‘It was classy, I enjoyed it,’ he said. ‘I have come here for a long, long time and next year it will be someone else who will get a hostile reception. Once you are not a danger any more, people love you.’ If the warm greeting was unusual for Wenger, he was ultimately left with a familiar feeling at the final whistle, as Arsenal remain without an away point in 2018. Despite that run, Wenger believes his replacement will inherit a strong squad. ‘My successor will watch this game and hopefully come to a positive conclusion because I think (these players) are the future of Arsenal, some of them 100 per cent,’ he said. United, who lost striker Romelu Lukaku to injury, struggled for long periods before Fellaini’s late winner. The big Belgian has refused two contract offers at United and had seriously considered leaving when his deal expires in the summer. However, Mourinho revealed that Fellaini is now set to remain at the club. ‘The position is that we are almost there but in football almost is not enough,’ he said. ‘I cannot celebrate. I want to see the right paper with the United crest, Ed Woodward’s signature and Marouane’s signature.’ Lukaku departed in the 50th minute and while the extent of his injury is unknown Mourinho admitted he fears the worst, with the FA Cup final against Chelsea — United’s only chance of silverware this season — looming. ‘Small things (Lukaku) doesn’t care, he wants to go on,’ said Mourinho. ‘For him to say “change” is because he could not play. There are three more weeks until the final. I just know it is on his foot.’ The win strengthened United’s grip on second place and sealed back-to-back qualification for the Champions League for the first time since Ferguson’s departure. Mourinho, however, believes there is more work to be done. ‘It is progress at many levels but not enough for us to be first instead of second and not enough to win the Champions League instead of the Europa League,’ he said. ‘Enough to finish second, to be stable, to reach some finals — but we need to do more.’