Arsene Wenger has said he will walk away from Arsenal if the club fail to win a trophy this season.
The 63-year-old's contract expires in June 2014 and there has been speculation over whether the Frenchman will stay on at the club.Arsenal have not won any silverware since 2005 and Wenger says there are 'no new talks planned'.
Uncertain future: Arsene Wenger lined up alongside new signing Mesut Ozil at Thursday's press conference
Colney training: Arsene Wenger, Mesut Ozil, Per Mertesacker and assistant manager Steve Bould
Trophyless: Arsenal's last silverware was the 2005 FA Cup won at the Millennium Stadium
'There are no new talks planned. At the end I will decide how well I've done for this club. You judge a manager on how well he does with the team,' said Wenger
'We are not in hurry. We are in September my contract expires in June. There's a long way to go.'
The Gunners face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday and are suffering from a striker shortage after an injury to Yaya Sanogo left Olivier Giroud as the only recognised centre-forward.
Wenger is expected to hand an eagerly-anticipated debut to Ozil and, while the Arsenal boss refused to confirm his inclusion, he believes the German can become a 'dominant' player in the Premier League.
'I haven’t decided whether he will play against Sunderland.'
Arsenal sealed the deal for Ozil with a telephone call from Wenger in German and the Gunners boss revealed that he tried to sign the midfielder when he first moved to Real Madrid.
Top dog: Arsene Wenger broke Arsenal's transfer record to bring Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid
Welcome to London: Arsene Wenger leads Mesut Ozil out on to the training ground at London Colney
'We speak in German. When Mesut [Ozil] went to Real Madrid we were already in touch back then, I wanted to get him to Arsenal,' added Wenger.
'I didn’t get him but that was the start of the relationship. the second time it worked - and I think the first contact really helped.'
The deal was completed on deadline day after Gareth Bale sealed his world record move to the Bernabeu.
The Welshman's £86m switch meant Madrid needed to offload some players and Ozil was the biggest name to be shown the door.
'I wouldn’t say [signing Ozil] was easy. It was very complicated because the timing was short. On Sunday, just before the Tottenham game, I thought we had managed to do it. We were 90 per cent there.
'What’s important for us is to find world class players and there aren’t many around.
'Honestly, I think it was linked with the Bale transfer. I don’t know why Madrid sold him - was it financial reasons? Was it because they had to let somebody go? I was surprised, yes.
'Of course [it’s a statement]. We had to go through some years with restricted financial potential and the target was to stay in the Champions League during this period. We were able to do it and now we are strong financially.'
Spend spend spend: Wenger has come in for increasing amounts of criticism
Frustration: Wenger and Arsenal have not won a trophy since 2005, since they lifted the FA Cup (below)
Arsene Wenger lifts the FA Cup
Victory bus: Arsenal fans crowd the streets of
Islington in 2004 to congratulate the team during a victory parade in
north London
Invincible: Wenger with the Premier League trophy in 2004 after Arsenal's undefeated season
At the double: Wenger with the Premier League trophy and FA Cup in 2002
Top man: Wenger with the Premier League trophy in the first Double-winning year, 1998
Who are you? The unknown Wenger just after taking over at Arsenal in 1998
No comments:
Post a Comment
Have Your Say