Wenger agrees new contract

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.

Wenger agrees new contract