Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has dropped a hint that he could be ready to leave the club in 2017 when his current contract expires, according to the Daily Mirror.
The Mirror reports that this week’s AGM was one of the angriest of his 19-year tenure, with a number of shareholders expressing their frustrations at the club’s lack of transfer activity over the summer as well as their less than satisfactory results in Europe so far this term.
Wenger is presently on an £8m-per-year deal that comes to an end at the conclusion of the 2016/17 season, and he has hinted that the time could be right for him to step aside and leave his legacy for the next manager to take over (via Mirror).
“I am resolute to commit absolutely until the last day of my contract to bring back big success to this club, and leave as well one day in a position where it can do even better when I leave,” Wenger said.
“That is for me very important that I leave the club in the shape that the guy who comes after me can do better.
“The responsibility on my shoulders is much bigger. I know what it means for people. I know how sad people are when we don’t do well, I know how sad people are when we lose a game.”
The Mirror goes on to point out that at the AGM one fan voiced his concern that the club’s results in Europe, which include a defeat to Greek side Olympiacos have been “embarrassing”, while another just simply wanted to know why after 19 years in charge at the club he felt that the only player worth bringing in over the summer was Petr Cech.
“I agree with you that the performances were not good enough. But we have played over 150 games in Europe. You have picked three performances that were not good enough,” he added.
“But if you look at the percentages of games won in Europe you will see Arsenal are in the top five. You speak about Monaco, but they lost against Juventus who went onto the final but they never deserved to lose to Juventus. They deserved to beat Juventus.
“I accept you have to be over-critical when the performances are not good, but look at number of games Arsenal played in Champions League before I arrived and look after, and come back to me.
“We are not scared to spend the money – I know I have that reputation. We have shown in the last three years if the player has the quality, we spend the money.”
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