Wenger now keen to stay at Gunners

ARSENE WENGER is edging closer to staying at Arsenal according to sources at the club, despite the humiliating 10-2 aggregate defeat by Bayern Munich.

Those with knowledge of the dressing room say the mood since has been one of determination to turn the season around and finish well. If anything, it has made many at the club, including Wenger, more defiant and determined to prove doubters wrong.

It would, of course, require a top-four finish or an FA Cup victory to justify staying.

If the club were to slump in the Premier League, Wenger could yet change his mind and accept that it is a time for a change.

At present, transfer recruitment plans for next season are intensifying, with Wenger directing them as though he were staying.

The significant difference from previous years when Wenger’s contract was running down, however, is that intermediaries close to the club have begun to sound out candidates to replace him. Men such as Max Allegri at Juventus, Newcastle’s Rafa Benitez and Borussia Dortmund’s Thomas Tuchel. And though Wenger looks more likely to stay now than go, the insecurity is putting Arsenal’s planning at risk, which is why a decision will be required soon.

All agents of players targeted for next season want to know who the manager will be next season — and no one is in a clear position to tell them.

The club are planning to make major signings in the summer, with the possibility that a replacement for Alexis Sanchez will be needed.

Borussia Dortmund’s striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is a player Wenger has admired for some time but the days of Arsenal being first in queue when it comes to major signings are long gone.