By Dan Ferguson
It’s no surprise that Wenger is signing for two more years.
Obviously the information has not yet filtered through the vetted and appropriately stage-managed channels.
Furthermore, I guess it is subject to change. Were Arsenal have a perfect storm of key injuries, immensely poor results, and Wenger exposed for something like holding shares in the most appalling of Qatari development companies.
It is amazing how a few results can so dramatically change one’s perspective on the season.
A few weeks ago after Stoke, Arsenal sat on top of the league, looking strong in most areas and with vital players in form.
Then something quite odd happened. Some respected bloggers, pundits and regular punters all kind of said the same thing. “Arsenal have played some lovely football in places, but are really flattering to deceive”.
I would never be so naïve to believe that what the above said affected the players, but against Everton and City, the season was summed up in 188 minutes.
This is important because the demand for contracts to be signed becomes divisive. Some people have turned on Ozil, declared Sanchez a potential mercenary, Henry has almost accused them of holding the club to ransom etc.
But the key to all of this is Wenger’s contract. We have a situation where he has never earned less than his players. His contract runs out a year before any of the key club players, and the conspiracist in me feels that he is PR managing the media to keep conversation as firmly away from him as possible.
Some publications and blogs have started going for the topic now, but generally he seems to be able to avoid being the story. Today however, the BBC have a conversation between ‘experts’ claiming Wenger is past his sell-by date.
Nothing new there, except the bad vibes generated by a few poor results have such huge financial implications for the club’s wage structure.
If Wenger’s hubris leads him to negotiate a two-year salary with the club that is remotely similar to the wage demands of Ozil and Sanchez, then he is in effect positioning himself as the club’s third £50 million+ asset, on a salary of £12 million+ a season.