Veteran Frenchman has been in charge of the north Londoners since 1996.
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Arsenal head coach Arsene Wenger is refusing to confirm whether or not he will put pen to paper on the new deal that he has recently been offered by the north London club, according to reports in the Daily Mail.
The experienced Frenchman has a contract extension on the table from Gunners owner Stan Kroenke to ponder, with Wenger’s current £7.5m-per-year deal set to expire at the end of this season.
However, it is understood that the 64-year-old wants to first ascertain whether or not he is the right man to lead the club back to winning ways and what would be their first trophy for eight years, when Arsenal beat arch-rivals Manchester United to win the 2005 FA Cup final at the Millennium stadium.
Arsenal currently lead the Premier League by two points ahead of both Chelsea and Liverpool after the first eight matches of the campaign, however, Wenger’s side face what could be a defining next few weeks, with top-flight encounters with United and Liverpool, as well as a Capital One Cup clash with Chelsea and crucial Champions League group-stage tie away to Borussia Dortmund.
Wenger insists he is loyal to the Arsenal cause, but says he feels he needs to be sure he is still capable of doing a good job for the club.
“It’s not a question of my loyalty – I want to feel I can do well for this club. It’s as simple as that,” said Wenger.
“I can build another new team, but haven’t got 17 years, that is for sure.
“I can build another team because in 17 years I had a few teams, but at the minute I’m looking at the short term. I will make a decision about the longer term later.”