More ammunition
Wenger stays and gets £55mil to go on a shopping spree
LONDON: Arsenal have given Arsene Wenger their unequivocal backing and will give the beleaguered Frenchman £55mil to rebuild his ailing squad.
Majority shareholder Stan Kroenke and the Gunners board remain 100% behind the Frenchman despite being resigned to a seventh consecutive season without a trophy.
The American is flying over to reaffirm his support for Wenger, who he will join at tomorrow’s regular board meeting.
The north London club’s season went from bad to worse on Saturday as they crashed out of the FA Cup after to a 2-0 defeat at Sunderland.
Saturday’s loss came just three days after Arsenal’s humiliating 4-0 defeat against AC Milan in the Champions League – a result that virtually sealed their exit from the competition.
This season’s struggles have, for the first time, raised major question marks over Wenger’s role as manager.
However, the Arsenal board remain staunch in their backing of the under-fire manager and still believe Wenger is the man to revive the club’s faltering fortunes.
As it stands, Wenger is under no danger of the sack – only a sensational shift in opinion between now and the end of the season from the Gunners board will alter that stance.
Furthermore, the Gunners hierarchy are adamant the Wenger will remain the club’s manager until, at the very least, his contract expires in 2014.
The only situation that would result in Wenger no longer remaining the Arsenal hotseat would be if he decided to resign at the end of the season.
The news will come as a major boost to Wenger, who will now focus all of his attentions on securing Champions League qualification.
And the Gunners board will underline their commitment to Wenger in the summer by handing him a hefty transfer budget to help bolster his squad.
Wenger is planning an overhaul of his squad in the summer.
High profile names such as Mario Goetze, Lukas Podolski, Eden Hazard and Matias Suarez all feature on Wenger’s shopping list.
But despite the Gunners hierarchy giving their manager substantial financial backing, Wenger knows he faces a huge fight to land his top targets, especially if they fail to secure a top-four finish this season. — Agencies