Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis confirms Frenhman will sign deal taking
him into his third decade at the club on £8 million a year
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Club man: Arsène Wenger is already the
longest-serving manager in the Premier
League,
and Arsenal's most successful ever Photo:
ACTION
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28 Jan 2014
Arsène
Wenger will be given full autonomy to preside over the largest
transfer budget in Arsenal’s
history following confirmation yesterday that he will extend his contract
beyond the end of this season.
The Premier League’s longest-serving manager is ready to sign a new deal that
is understood to be worth £24 million over three years and will take him
into an unprecedented third decade at Arsenal.
Telegraph Sport revealed in September that Stan Kroenke, Arsenal’s
majority owner, would ask Wenger to oversee the next phase of the club’s
development and chief executive Ivan Gazidis revealed yesterday that a
formal announcement was now a formality.
“Arsène will be extending with us and, at the right time, we will make that
announcement,” said Gazidis. “We have always supported Arsène, the board and
Stan Kroenke have always been completely behind him. Arsène has always been
committed to the club. He’s the right person to see us forward.”
Gazidis was speaking at a press conference to announce a £150 million
five-year kit deal with Puma that is the largest in British football
history. The partnership, which will increase Arsenal’s annual revenue by
£22 million, will begin in July and be part of an eventual yearly increment
in Wenger’s spending power of £70 million.
Arsenal could still add a forward before the transfer window closes on Friday,
with the club hoping to sign Schalke’s Julian Draxler. Contract extensions
for Per Mertesacker and Tomas Rosicky are almost complete.
If major signings do have to wait until the end of the season, it is estimated that Wenger’s budget for spending on transfer fees – or increases to the wage bill – would increase to around £80 million.
Arsenal’s kit deal with Nike dates back to 1994 and has been worth around £8 million over each of the past seven years. The new contract, which is also the largest in Puma’s history, is worth a basic £30 million annually, and could rise to £34 million with add-ons.
It surpasses all existing kit deals in English football, with Manchester United receiving £25.4 million a year from Nike and Liverpool £25 million from Warrior. United, though, are soon expected to announce an enhanced contract with Nike worth almost £77 million a year.
Barcelona and Real Madrid’s kit deals are respectively worth £27 million and £31 million.
The Puma partnership is hugely significant to Arsenal’s long-term strategy and, alongside the new Emirates shirt sponsorship contract and other commercial deals, will amount to a major escalation in the club’s financial firepower. Wenger described it as “a big moment for our club” and Kroenke will allow his manager to invest in the squad as he sees fit.
Wenger intends to continue with the strategy of building Arsenal around a core of young players who have been developed internally but then also use his enhanced spending power to add some of the world’s best established talents. It should mean that deals like the £42.5 million club-record signing of Mesut Özil can become more common. Draxler has a £37.8 million buy-out clause and would be within Arsenal’s budget.
Wenger has never previously extended his contract so late into the cycle but, according to sources, the delay has been more about being sure he is still wanted by Arsenal fans rather than offers from elsewhere, notably Paris St-Germain.
At the age of 64, and having been at Arsenal since 1996, Wenger also wanted to be certain he had the energy to lead the club into what he expects to be a new era of success. Wenger has won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups at Arsenal but the last of those trophies was lifted in 2005.
“This is the biggest deal in our history,” said Gazidis. “From this summer, that money will be available to the manager to use how he sees fit. We have a vision to be competing at the top of the world’s game.
"We get criticism along the way, we don’t do everything right but, if you look at how the club has progressed, not from outside benefactors or state funding, but the efforts of people who love the club, when we do achieve success it will be incredibly meaningful to everyone on this journey.”
Arsenal’s strategy is likely to hinge heavily on whether Uefa implement their new Financial Fair Play rules. There are fears that clubs such as Manchester City could circumnavigate the ‘break-even’ principle by securing enormous commercial deals with companies connected to their owners. Gazidis has been personally told by Michel Platini, the Uefa president, that FFP “will be enforced” but believes that Arsenal will struggle to reduce ticket prices while there is such pressure on keeping pace with player spending.
“We have been explicit in saying we have been very dependent on ticket prices,” said Gazidis. “More globally for football, what we hope to see is more responsible spending. If that happens and we see a more rationale environment, that takes the pressure off the tickets. We are looking forward to Uefa introducing FFP. We are healthy sceptics. If the spending is under control, it opens up possibilities in terms of the relationship we have with our fans.”
If major signings do have to wait until the end of the season, it is estimated that Wenger’s budget for spending on transfer fees – or increases to the wage bill – would increase to around £80 million.
Arsenal’s kit deal with Nike dates back to 1994 and has been worth around £8 million over each of the past seven years. The new contract, which is also the largest in Puma’s history, is worth a basic £30 million annually, and could rise to £34 million with add-ons.
It surpasses all existing kit deals in English football, with Manchester United receiving £25.4 million a year from Nike and Liverpool £25 million from Warrior. United, though, are soon expected to announce an enhanced contract with Nike worth almost £77 million a year.
Barcelona and Real Madrid’s kit deals are respectively worth £27 million and £31 million.
The Puma partnership is hugely significant to Arsenal’s long-term strategy and, alongside the new Emirates shirt sponsorship contract and other commercial deals, will amount to a major escalation in the club’s financial firepower. Wenger described it as “a big moment for our club” and Kroenke will allow his manager to invest in the squad as he sees fit.
Wenger intends to continue with the strategy of building Arsenal around a core of young players who have been developed internally but then also use his enhanced spending power to add some of the world’s best established talents. It should mean that deals like the £42.5 million club-record signing of Mesut Özil can become more common. Draxler has a £37.8 million buy-out clause and would be within Arsenal’s budget.
Wenger has never previously extended his contract so late into the cycle but, according to sources, the delay has been more about being sure he is still wanted by Arsenal fans rather than offers from elsewhere, notably Paris St-Germain.
At the age of 64, and having been at Arsenal since 1996, Wenger also wanted to be certain he had the energy to lead the club into what he expects to be a new era of success. Wenger has won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups at Arsenal but the last of those trophies was lifted in 2005.
“This is the biggest deal in our history,” said Gazidis. “From this summer, that money will be available to the manager to use how he sees fit. We have a vision to be competing at the top of the world’s game.
"We get criticism along the way, we don’t do everything right but, if you look at how the club has progressed, not from outside benefactors or state funding, but the efforts of people who love the club, when we do achieve success it will be incredibly meaningful to everyone on this journey.”
Arsenal’s strategy is likely to hinge heavily on whether Uefa implement their new Financial Fair Play rules. There are fears that clubs such as Manchester City could circumnavigate the ‘break-even’ principle by securing enormous commercial deals with companies connected to their owners. Gazidis has been personally told by Michel Platini, the Uefa president, that FFP “will be enforced” but believes that Arsenal will struggle to reduce ticket prices while there is such pressure on keeping pace with player spending.
“We have been explicit in saying we have been very dependent on ticket prices,” said Gazidis. “More globally for football, what we hope to see is more responsible spending. If that happens and we see a more rationale environment, that takes the pressure off the tickets. We are looking forward to Uefa introducing FFP. We are healthy sceptics. If the spending is under control, it opens up possibilities in terms of the relationship we have with our fans.”
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