Arsene Wenger: Arsenal manager agrees two-year contract
Last updated on .From the section Arsenal
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has agreed a new two-year contract, extending his 21-year reign at the club.
Wenger and club owner Stan Kroenke met on Monday to determine the Frenchman's future, with the decision relayed to directors at a Tuesday board meeting.
Arsenal are planning to make an official announcement on Wednesday.
The Gunners were fifth in the Premier League this season, the first time they have finished outside the top four since the Frenchman joined in 1996.
They finished 18 points behind champions Chelsea, but beat the Blues 2-1 to win the FA Cup at Wembley on Saturday.
Wenger's contract was set to finish at the end of the current campaign.
- 'Wenger in' - can Arsene write a new chapter into Arsenal's history?
- 'There will be protests if Wenger stays'
- Arsenal 'a long way behind' - Lineker
In a BBC Sport poll, 58% of voters think that Wenger staying is a good thing for Arsenal.
Feast and then famine
Wenger led the Gunners to three Premier League titles and four FA Cups in his first nine seasons in charge.
In 2003-04, he became the first manager since 1888-89 to lead a team through an entire top-flight season unbeaten.
But after winning the 2005 FA Cup, they had to wait another nine years - or 3,283 days - for their next silverware. It came as they beat Hull City to win the 2014 FA Cup, before winning the trophy again the following year.
Some Gunners fans turned on the 67-year-old Frenchman as a result of their league performances and they lost 10-2 on aggregate to Bayern Munich in the Champions League last 16 in March.
They finished the league season with five successive victories, but it was not enough to carry them above Liverpool to take the fourth and final Champions League spot.
Wenger told BBC's Football Focus on Saturday the criticism he has faced this season is "a disgrace" he will "never forget".
Anti-Wenger banners were held aloft by Gunners fans in the closing stages of a 3-1 defeat at West Brom on 18 March, while in the first half two planes towed banners over the ground - one criticising the manager and the other supporting him.
After that loss, Wenger said he had made a decision on his future which he would announce "very soon".
He faced significant criticism around that time, with former Blackburn and Celtic striker Chris Sutton telling BBC Radio 5 live on 20 March that Wenger was "an uncle who doesn't want to leave the party" and was running a "dictatorship".
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, meanwhile, described Wenger as "one of the best managers in history".
Analysis
BBC Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker:
Arsenal have got a long way to go at the moment, they're a long way behind. If you ask me now whether Arsenal are going to be in the top four next season, I would say most probably not.
The only other example of a manager that decides when and where he goes is Sir Alex Ferguson, but he was still winning league titles. Arsene Wenger was still winning FA Cups and until this season he had always got in the top four, but now that's changed.
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Who are they going to target next?
21 years in job is a rarity in this ever changing world.
Some Arsenal fans don't realise how lucky they are!
Leicester take note.
Man City qualified with 66 points last season and Utd *won* the league with 75 points in 1997. It's all about perspective.
Alternatively, Wenger is sure that Arsenal are nothing like as far behind as Lineker thinks.
Good luck, boss.
To lead a club for 21, now 23 years with integrity, dignity, respect and unwavering commitment takes some doing. Delighted you're staying.
Arsenal fans should be grateful they've got a manager who believes in entertaining football. Wenger is a credit to the game and brought nothing but respect to your club.
Quite why they feel so entitled to never ending success (which they appear to believe is their right) is beyond me. All sports teams have different levels of success and failure in cycles; it goes with the territory.
He's not perfect but who is? It's unlikely there's anyone better who would be willing to join Arsenal next season.
Good luck Wenger and well done on the FA Cup win! Despite the lack of support from some of your 'fans'.
From a Spurs fan.
Arsene is Arsenal and he made the club what it is today, there`s life in the old dog yet and nothing would give me more pleasure in football than to see him succeed again and I would be more than happy to see him have that chance.