EPL: Wenger stays at Arsenal

Arsene Wenger has agreed a new three-
year contract with Arsenal which keeps him
at the club until 2017, according to Sky
sources.
Wenger had gone nearly nine years without
winning a trophy until Arsenal won their
dramatic FA Cup final against Hull on May
17.
The new deal, which has not been
confirmed by Arsenal, will take his tenure
at the club to 21 years.
There had been speculation that Wenger,
who has led the Gunners into the
Champion League for 17 straight seasons,
could leave, with reported links with his
former club Monaco.
Nigel Winterburn, who played under
Wenger between 1987-2000, told Sky
Sports News: "It's good news for me and
the club. I've always supported Arsene
Wenger, particularly through the last few
seasons when he was under pressure with
the team not winning a trophy.
"I believe there have been restrictions with
the spending. Having now won the FA Cup
and Wenger signing I would like to see the
transfer policy changing so they can go out
and buy some players to complement the
team he's got at the moment."
Wenger came under fire last season for not
providing enough support to forward Olivier
Giroud.
Winterburn believes this needs addressing
and added: "They need at least one centre
forward to complement Giroud. They need
to bring in a right back and need to look at
left midfield.
"When Arsenal played at their best last
season they had pace and power with Theo
Walcott out wide and Aaron Ramsey
making the runs. When they lost those
players through injury they seemed to
struggle.
"There are areas they need to look at but
Arsene likes to take his time. But with all
the clubs looking to spend money I think
Arsene needs to do that as well."
The 64-year-old manager joined Arsenal in
1996 and transformed the club on and off
the pitch. They won the double in 1998 and
he signed a host of international stars such
as Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Marc
Overmars and Cesc Fabregas.
The 2003-2004 team will go down in
history as 'The Invincibles', remaining
undefeated for the whole title-winning
Premier League season.
They won the FA Cup in 2005 but then the
silverware dried up, Arsenal losing in two
League Cup finals and the Champions
League final in 2006.
With pressure growing, Wenger - famously
reluctant to splash out big money - signed
Mesut Ozil for a club-record £42m.
Despite futher frustration in the league,
Wenger finally ended the barren run with
the FA Cup triumph at the end of last
season and immediately after the 3-2
victory, he indicated that he intended to
stay.