Premier League - Wenger: 'I'm staying'

Eurosport - Wed, 20 May 15:44:00 2009

Arsene Wenger has said he will reject the advances of Real Madrid and stay at Arsenal, insisting his future is "not an issue".

2008-2009 Arsenal Arsene Wenger - 0

The Frenchman has reportedly been approached by Madrid presidential candidate Florentino Perez about becoming manager of the Spanish giants should he get elected to the post.

But he told the Daily Mail: "There's nothing to worry about, it's not an issue for me. I'm staying here. If that changes I will let you know, but don't worry about that. It's not an issue."

The initial news had arrived on the back of some disquiet among Gunners fans about Wenger's management after the north Londoners endured a fourth straight season without winning a trophy.

Wenger was last week involved in a heated exchange at a meeting of shareholders, who accused his youngsters of lacking backbone while defender Mikael Silvestre was branded "geriatric".

Chairman Peter Hill-Wood described those comments as "out of order" adding also he expected Wenger to at least see out his current contract, which expires in 2011.

And Wenger has now backed those comments, despite also describing Real's advances as "strongly interesting".

PA Sport / Eurosport

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  1. hello

    From john.connolly01, on Mon 1 Jun 6:08PM

  2. Arsene is the best coach that ever happened to Arsenal.­ I do not support Arsenal- am Liverpool for life- but I­ know a great andastute coach when I se one.People might­ say all sorts of negative things, but Arsene's on­ the right track.Whoever said progress was very easy to­ achieve?

    From Wellington, on Thu 21 May 7:23PM

  3. yes i have had all the comments and i would like to­ congratulate every gunners fan.
    everybody knows that­ arsenal is still the best no mater what happened.Arsene­ Wenger
    is still the best coach i love him. he's­ the nice coach ever.. please gunners i know
    a team­ goes into some difficulties but never loose hope i know­ we had alot of chances
    to won the FA,CUP AND EUFA CL.­ but you know the problems we had. but Let's walk up­
    the trophies is ours next season i promise you ( with­ one love one gunners still support loosing is just for­ amomment )
    from ex.mek Norway

    From emmakasekase470, on Thu 21 May 6:26PM

  4. god blasht it

    From davicinkerry, on Thu 21 May 5:24PM

  5. Who ever wants Arsene Wenger out is a TERRORIST

    From ancolink1, on Thu 21 May 2:37PM
  6. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I'm sorry to say, Arsenal are losers. I understand­ a fan will stand with his team -win or loose - but­ justifying mediocrity is not near being a fan. It has­ to do with being small minded and being poor. When did­ the financial standings and books of a club become the­ preoccupation of a fan. Gunners, you need to put­ pressure on the management to give you something else­ to glory in. Every year its been we'll do better­ next year and then next year and then next year. When­ will your next year come. You folks should wake up.

    From dpapyj, on Thu 21 May 1:30PM

  7. While clubs like ManU, Chelsea, and Liverpool could­ afford to shop at 'Waitrose' in the transfer­ market, poor Arsenal only rumages for buy one, get one­ free bargains at 'Lidl'. It would take a­ genius like Arsene Wenger to do the almost impossible­ thing with the pittance Arsenal Board has been offering­ since their movement to the Emirate Stadium. As for the­ players, the 'young players' appellation is­ really affecting their young mind, and they just cant­ seem to want to grow up. Kudos to Arsene Wenger for his­ monumental achievement with Arsenal, but some Arsenal­ players attitudes worry me. They seem to be contended­ with being in the fourth position perpetually. They­ need mind panel-beating to cope with the challenges of­ the Premiership.
    Kola Oyelaja

    From Kola, on Thu 21 May 12:00PM

  8. I'm not suprised that players like Adebayor want to­ leave Arsenal after all what true fan boo's thier­ own players. It's happened with Eboue, Bendntner­ and Adebayor this season and of course a player is­ going to suffer with a loss of form or lack confidence­ if everytime they touch the ball they are getting­ abuse. I think there will be a few players leaving­ Arsenal during the summer and considering they­ don't have the funds to replace them it looks like­ the fans have will be booing djorou, Song and Diaby­ next season !!!!

    From Tony R, on Thu 21 May 10:13AM

  9. i think it's amazing what wenger does with such­ small money & young players any other manager­ woudn't be in the top 10 with this team, the press­ should leave him alone and look at liverpool who will­ nothing this year again while still spending lots and­ what about spurs, same as man city big spenders, low­ acheivers.
    At least we know with wenger money is spent­ on talent, not big names. he will probably buy a­ strong defender, and strong midfielder after selling­ Ade (which i'll mention the good bit of business,­ bought for 7 m, sold for 24m or more). After all­ bendtner has improve since the beginning of the season­ eduardo, arshavin, v.persie are more likely to hit the­ back of the net, nasri best position is behind the­ striker(s). so we 're will have a go and hope to­ win something so wenger would consider extending his­ contract.

    From lazygooner, on Thu 21 May 10:01AM

  10. Ive been reading all the comments written about Mr.­ wenger which i like to call the professor, and u can­ notice 1 thing in the arsenal fan base their is 2­ types: the real fans who supports the team & the­ manager in the best and in the worst days & the­ second type which don't know anything about loyalty­ and just wont to win to tease his friends in the bar...­ well we all agree that the second type is a shame for­ all the real fans and what im sure about is that they­ know about football as much as i know about rocket­ science... well let me in light u glory hunters a­ little bit about the PROFESSOR (read carefully and­ learn cause u need 2):
    Arsène Wenger is the most­ successful manager in the history of Arsenal in terms­ of trophies Wenger is the only non-British manager to­ win the Double in England. In 2004, he became the only­ manager in FA Premier League history to go through the­ entire season without defeat. Wenger is widely regarded­ as one of the world's best managers. Wenger has a­ degree in engineering and a Master's degree in­ economics and is fluent in French, German and English;­ he also speaks Italian, Spanish and Japanese. His­ managerial career took off when he became the manager­ of AS Monaco in 1987. He won the league in 1988 (first­ season) & the French Cup in 1991, & signed­ high-calibre players such as Jürgen Klinsmann. He moved­ on to a successful 18-month stint with the Japanese­ team Nagoya Grampus , with whom he won the Cup &­ national cup . He also took the club from the bottom­ three to runners-up position in the league.In his­ second season in charge of arsenal (1997-98), Arsenal­ won both the EPL and FA Cup, Peter Hill-Wood­ "Arsène's basically spent, since he's been­ with us, £4m a year net." An example of this­ ability was the purchase of Anelka for only £500,000­ and his sale to Real Madrid just 2 years later for­ £22.3m. the money was used to buy Henry, Pirès &­ Wiltord who & got with them t Double

    From creed, on Thu 21 May 7:47AM

  11. ya u really should arsene. if otherwise than u should­ also plan for early retirement for the following season­ at madrid. remember quieroz former man u asst. manager?­ even the winning manager still get the boot out.. great­ del bosque, capello..

    From gorka, on Thu 21 May 1:46AM

  12. Wenger you are a legend and we love you , our club is­ now competing at the highest level and playing some of­ the most attractive football since you came forget the­ boo boys the real fans love you.

    From Geraldine B, on Thu 21 May 12:05AM

  13. For all Gooners who supported the club pre 1998 when we­ won the double going 4 years without winning a trophy­ is nothing. I remeber we didn't win anything from­ 1979 the FA
    cup up until 1986 when we won the League­ cup (Littlewoods cup) it was called back then.
    I­ remember losing cup ties to Wrexham York and some @#$%­ players Gus Ceaser he makes
    Senderos look like­ Maradona. The true fans know how bad it was and we­ ain't seen
    football this good at anytime i can­ remember supporting the club and were talking 30 odd­ years. So Gloryhunters put a sock in it go support Man­ utd Chelsea or even better
    Man @#$% they got loads of­ money bound to come good soon but you ain't true­ ARSENAL
    fans that spec faced nurdy frenchman is the­ best thing that ever happened to the club
    simple as.

    From goonerwest, on Wed 20 May 11:46PM

  14. I dont know how many times I have to write this, but­ here goes again..How many of you dissatisfied fans can­ remember the last time these youngsters played bad­ enough to bring us out of the top4 of the premier­ League,
    just remember there are 16 other teams with­ more so called experienced players have never been­ anywhere the top 4,,Mr Wenger has done a great job for­ the Arsenal, give him the chance to finish what he­ started, you will then be boasting that you are a­ GUNNER for ever..+

    From arsnic, on Wed 20 May 11:40PM

  15. Top news Arsene, now please can the board get behind­ our manager and give him the money he needs to buy the­ players he wants to put the Gunners back where we­ belong. At the top.

    From DAN, on Wed 20 May 10:24PM

  16. Most europeans club never now a good manager until­ he's through the stadiums gate. Arsene Wegner is­ one of the best coaches in the world. He takes young­ talent an turn them into super stars, (Thierry Henry,­ Fabregas, Flamini Hleb, Walcott, Adebayor & the­ list can go on) and now some of the biggest clubs will­ spend mega bucks to get the services of any of arsenals­ talented and well gifted teenagers. Arsene Wegner is a­ real talent snatcher, i only wish his kids will realize­ the potiential they have of being the best and kings of­ europe one day.

    From Anthony, on Wed 20 May 9:13PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Typical Wenger. he receives rightful criticism for­ another trophy less season and is questioned by share­ holders so throws a hissy fit. then when every one­ rallies round to tell him he is wonderful he says he is­ staying. Big deal. Wenger is a great manager but one­ hell of a shallow individual.

    From Allen H, on Wed 20 May 8:26PM

  18. Its not fair to critisize Wenger. Yeah Arsenal­ haven't one anything in 4 years, Woop-di-doo. This­ young team is quite unexperienced but i think of it­ like putting money in the bank it accumulates more­ value the longer you leave it, (Not really with the­ current economic climate, but you get the idea).

    Just­ wait once The team gets some experience may be by a few­ defensive players Arsenal will be ripping it up in the­ leage and Europe! I mean look how close we came this­ year, Semi Finals of both the FA and Champions League.­ Thats pretty damn good.

    Just think of all the injury­ worries we've had this year, Eduardo, Rossci,­ Fabregas, RVP and more! I mean c'mon you GOONERS­ show some damn Faith! And if you still feel the same­ way about Wenger, Go support some other team you glory­ hunting punters!...

    AFC For Life.

    From Rich A, on Wed 20 May 8:07PM

  19. Well, that's pretty clear well done Arsene. Respect­ for you has gone up a notch. It'll be a pleasure­ drubbing your lads again next year ;)

    From bigbrother09447, on Wed 20 May 6:43PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Oh NO you are not staying. Stingy coach. Arsenal new­ sponsors are PRIMARK

    From Godwin, on Wed 20 May 5:29PM
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