Arsenal Manager Arsène Wenger agreed to a new two-year deal at the club that will be announced on Wednesday, according to Jack Pitt-Brooke of the London INDEPENDENT. Wenger met with majority shareholder Stan Kroenke on Monday, and the agreement "will be ratified at an Arsenal board meeting" on Tuesday. The news that Wenger will stay "ends a whole year of uncertainty that by the manager’s own admission has damaged the team this season." The new two-year deal is a "personal triumph" for Wenger. He "always wanted to stay at Arsenal," where he has been manager since '96. But he "wanted to do so with the unambiguous support of the board, and with the same powers as manager he has always enjoyed." CEO Ivan Gazidis has been "pushing for changes behind the scenes," including a technical director. Wenger "strongly opposed this and the tensions have spilled over into public," with Wenger "pointedly questioning what a technical director can do, as well as the value of statistical analysis, another pet Gazidis topic" (INDEPENDENT, 5/30). In London, Jeremy Wilson reported Wenger "paved the way for staying" after being reassured that changes proposed to the sporting structure by Gazidis "would not impact on his core decision making." Wenger has been told that his "core powers" -- coaching, picking the team and directing the transfer strategy -- "will not be affected but has been sensitive about the parameters of change and also did not want any of his core staff to leave against his will." Kroenke has spent time with Wenger since Saturday’s FA Cup final win and his "backing for the Frenchman remains absolute" (TELEGRAPH, 5/30). The BBC's David Ornstein reported Wenger said that the criticism he faced this season is "a disgrace" he will "never forget." Anti-Wenger banners were held by Arsenal fans in the closing stages of a 3-1 defeat at West Brom on March 18, "while in the first half two planes towed banners over the ground -- one criticising the manager and the other supporting him." He faced "significant criticism" around that time, with former Blackburn and Celtic player Chris Sutton saying on March 20 that Wenger was "an uncle who doesn't want to leave the party" and was running a "dictatorship." Chelsea Manager Antonio Conte, meanwhile, described Wenger as "one of the best managers in history" (BBC, 5/30).
