Arsene Wenger Scared Of Retirement

The Arsenal director Lord Harris has revealed that Arsène Wenger can break the club’s transfer record to sign a top centre-forward, with “anyone but Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi” within their reach.

The Gunners have a long history of bringing through players from the the youth system, and despite the fact there’s more money at his disposal than ever, he’ll continue to try and do that. I just think the number of times you have done it doesn’t count. “He can strengthen the belief in the team as well because when you sit in the dressing room and look around you, you need some people who can give you confidence”.

The Gunners, who eventually finished third in the table, made a successful start to their pre-season campaign by overcoming Everton 3-1 to lift the Barclays Asia Trophy in Singapore. It always demands 100 per cent commitment.

“That is not a problem, honestly”. Retirement was inevitably on the agenda. I stated “come on, you do not miss it?’ He says ‘no”. He’d had enough. But he has horses. “I haven’t any horses”.

A large proportion of the Arsenal support still have faith in Wenger following his near-19-year reign at the club, but some believe that his time in charge should be nearing an end.

“Then do it in five years with the Under 16 team.” “The deal happened because of the special relationship that Petr Cech had with Roman Abramovich”, the manager said. “You lose three games and…”

That run culminated in a second successive FA Cup triumph, and Wenger says his experience helps him to judge where his team stand and how far they can go.

Maintaining perspective and confidence during those inevitable moments of crisis has been vital.

Wenger had to contend with the financial impact of moving from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium, which meant losing key players such as Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas year on year.

The Frenchman added he would continue to fight the club’s Premier League rivals over financial fair play so his successor would inherit a strong, stable club. That is very important, stability is undervalued.

“When I leave, one day, I want to leave the club in a position where it can go on and on”.