Arsenal Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis says that when the time comes to replace Arsene Wenger, the club will ensure the style of play and footballing values he’s instilled will remain, but also suggested that the club will offer the Frenchman a new contract to run beyond his current deal.
Wenger has a contract until 2014 but Gazidis insists that any new deal would be made with the best interests of the club in mind, not for emotional reasons. Speaking to the Telegraph, he said, “It’s not a sense of sentimentalism, not a reward for services, it’s a belief that we have an incredible manager who loves this club and is the best man to lead us forward.
“We’re really confident about the direction that the club is heading. I feel he can keep going for a long time. He’s in fantastic shape and he’s as driven as he’s ever been and excited as ever.
“The values that Arsène has brought to the club together with the values that the club had before Arsène are what will inform us and give us the framework as to who might take over from him in the longer term. He is written into our DNA.”
And while many Arsenal fans were frustrated by the club’s decision not to recruit further before the transfer window closed, Gazidis has lauded the manager’s transfer business.
“We can get into extensive debate about individual decisions – and like all clubs we are not perfect – but the ultimate arbiter of whether you are spending your money efficiently is where did you finish in the Premier League versus your overall spending,” he said.
“When you look at what Arsene has done, within the overall constraints, he has outperformed our spending every single year he has been manager. It is extraordinary.”
He also suggested that the new commercial deals available to the club in 2014, when current sponsorships end, would propel the club to a new financial level.
“In terms of the financial impact, it will be as significant a step forward as the stadium was in 2005, it does kick us into the top five clubs in the world with separation from the rest. The overall journey that the club embarked on was to make it one of the leading clubs in the world and to do it in a way that would be sustainable. “
“We get accused of a lack of ambition or complacency because apparently the board are only interested in the top four. That is absolute rubbish. To me this is the most ambitious football club I know.”
It’s a hard sell when you constantly sell your best players, often because you have no choice, but there’s no doubt the new commercial revenue will have a big impact on our financial health. It’s whether or not we use our resources fully when we have that money that will decide whether or not Arsenal will be in the ‘top 5’ clubs in Europe.
Take that, Xavi.
Damn, you beat me to it.
DNA or no, age-wise, Wengers signings this and last summer are out of character. In a few years time, we will have many players at the end of their contracts and in their early 30’s. These players will not have much resale value and Wenger will have to do an extensive rebuild of the squad. Could Wenger be going for broke? Could he be focussing on winning sometime at all costs before he leaves? Is Gazidis soiling his pants thinking about the “Tell It All” book Wenger will publish? Actually, it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters – everyone knows the world… Read more »
Arsène is one manager who will not write a book to make himself loads of cash and make slurs and accusations against the club or its players. He is far to intelligent.
So much for the “saving it for the new guy” …
So you left out all the youth players he has bought that will be the right age for the new manager and allow him to mix experience with youth……
And what about the likes of Ramsey, Coq, Jenkinson, Chezz, Diaby, Gibbs, Wilshire, Ox, and Walcott (amongst others) who in 2 or 3 seasons will be right in the prime of their playing careers? BRAIN: Use it.
Some people are just never happy. First of all we get all this stuff about how we are too reliant on youth and developing talent, who then bugger off for more money, and how we shouldn’t sell our best players etc. Then, when we buy proven, ready made players we hear all this stuff about how they will be too old to sell for a decent profit. So which is it? Do you want the club to develop players and sell them for a huge profit, or buy established players and let them go for peanuts at the end of… Read more »
Agreed. All our new signings speak highyly of wenger, seems like a cosy guy. In one way or another Arsene has helped them settle in. podolski, cazorla, giroud all seem like they have been with us for years!. Arsene DNA! Baby.
In wenger we trust
Great news IMHO , This is not gonna go down well over at Le Grove!! steer well clear from there, you have been warned!
Haha, so true.
Have steered well clear for a long time…
“the ultimate arbiter of whether you are spending your money efficiently is where did you finish in the Premier League versus your overall spending”
Maybe, but the ultimate arbiter of success is where you finish in the Premier League.
Yes, but that was very clever the way he put it: ‘whether you are spending your money efficiently’. Which makes it absolutely true, I had to read it twice. Even then I thought the Arsenal-only-interested-in-bottom-line “fans” won’t like that. At the end of the day, it’s still do I go out and take out a loan this instant and buy a Ferrari? That young whipper-snapper’s father’s bought him one and it’s showing me off for lacking ambition. Or do I race my spritely four-door sedan better, beat him when I can and watch him drive into the wall when I… Read more »
Ballacks. Is there anyone besides City fans who sees that club as having done anything more than bought the league, using their massive bank account to gouge other teams?
There’s only ooonnnnnnneeeee Arsene Wenger………
Santos I think is wengers kid. Huge chunks of wenger DNA in this gay.
AW is a living, breathing, talking, walking legend. One day long after he’s retired we will look back on his time with the club and realise how lucky Arsenal have been to have him steer them when he did. Can you imagine anyone else being capable of the job he’s done. Dare I say it, but not even Ferguson would have managed it.
7 lucky years for Stan tha yanks of making profit, banking 50 mil in wages, becominga top top quality FEEDER CLUB and errr wining FA (to be fair to the Blind sheep, the French Fool has won 3 Emirate cups).
Sad sad day to see this French Fool get rewarded for wining NOTHING for 7 years but profit and the Blind Sheep jumping with joy.
Oh do shut up; it’s the same old bollocks that dribbles out of your mouth every news story that isn’t instantly positive (like winning a game)
Look everyone, Its Daniel Levy
“To
me this is the most ambitious
football club I know.”
hard to argue with that since, for me, it’s the ONLY club i know.
May he stay with us for years to come.
Arsene = Arsenal
Arsene=Arsenal? And you call yourself Lifetime Gooner??? I bet my life you would rather The Arsenal lose with the French Fool then get the sack and we win, wouldn’t you????.
Fuck off already.
Mate, no disrespect to you, but i love the man and what he has done for The Arsenal. He did bring us on to a whole new level.
And don’t ever doubt me as a lifetime gooner the minute you dont know me.
Some of us remember the days of Howe, Graham and Ricoh. Arsene has set the bar so high for himself with his achievements, that you get “fans” like you CLF who are constantly unhappy but either are too young or don’t actually remember the dross that used to pass as football for us. There was a reason we were called boring boring Arsenal under Graham and the most attractive/exciting team to watch under Wenger. There’s a reason Arsene is the most successful manager in our history and has kept us close to the money-fuelled monopoly teams while you watch the… Read more »
1) What basis have you determined that No Wenger = Automatic Win?
2) Why are you such a fucking twat?
3) You should away and support Liverpool. Their policy of sacking their manager every couple of seasons has brought them back to glory in almost no time at all. And like Liverpool there’s nothing you seem to like better than sitting in a Jacuzzi of Despair.
No Arsene is not The Arsenal!
Arsene is an employee of Arsenal FC and “employee of the month´” for a long fucking time but he is not The Arsenal. It is not Arsene FC like some kids like to think.
“Gazidis: Arsenal has Wenger DNA” What a stupid thing to say. Arsene has Arsenal DNA not the other way around.
Oh, tell me more about how Arsenal have always played the way they have since Wenger came.
a steady hand in turbulent times.And who here would even dare doubt him with an unlimited warchest?he showed the premier league the greatest football it has EVER seen.Everyone will be lying prostate at his feet come the end of the decade,grateful he didn’t listen to them.
If Man Utd. have SAF, we have Le Prof in Arsene Wenger. COYG
*fucking red nose twat. Ever seen his touchline shannanigans?, that is no way for a “SIR” to behave!
Can we make him a statue already?. I’ll do the nose part.
My nose you mean?
Santos I bet would do his hair. Lol!
Nope, Arteta
[…] Speaking to the Telegraph the Chief Executive has gone on full PR assault, some of it makes perfect sense, other parts of it will struggle to convince some fans, and it’s worth reading behind the headlines which are designed to sensationalise more than anything else. It’s probably worth breaking it down into various sections. First off he talks about Arsene Wenger and the possibility that he’ll be offered a new deal, taking him beyond the one which expires in 2014. It’s not a sense of sentimentalism, not a reward for services, it’s a belief that we have an incredible… Read more »
I grew up in the Wenger era (as i’m 20 now) and I’m scared ar what the club will be like when he leaves. Throughout all these years I’ve seen nobody better to replace him. He’s just made for Arsenal. When certain fans were calling for him to be out and replaced a few years back, I was so confused because you’re never gonna find a better manager for Arsenal.
Fear not young Goonerdan. Managers, players, directors, board members – they all come and go but the Arsenal FC remains. If you could distill Arsenal FC and strip everything away, you will find us, the Arsenal fans, as the fundamental component that binds the club together. We are united in everything we love about Arsenal on matchday, and about everything Arsenal related that we do in between matchdays, especially Arseblog.com 😀
As long as their are Gooners around the globe, there will always be an Arsenal FC. And Spurs will still be shite.
fear you not, oh goonerdan youngling!
I also grew up in the Wenger era (as i’m now 23) and I’m also baffled when I hear people calling for his head. There is no other manager in the world who could do a better job without ripping the club to shreds.
I am also fearful of what life would be like the day he retires, not because I think he IS Arsenal, but I’m afraid of that I’m so used to our playing philosophy and touch of class off the field that I will find myself yearning for the old days.
I get the feeling that he’ll be a director or in charge of youth development (like Dario Gradi) and he’ll be the main person to choose his replacement, so you know you are getting someone he feels can continue with our playing style.
@goonerdan My friend, I am a little bit older but my early support of AFC was clouded in the lack of coverage in the USA. Therefore, most of what I can fully remember is the Wenger era. When he does leave, (supposing no immortality cure is created in the secret underground laboratory buried beneath old Highbury) he will be missed. I’m sure people feared life after Chapman; after Whittaker concerned of losing prominence after going without a league title throughout the 70s and 80s; concern with Graham’s departure; and the departures of Bergkamp, the back four, Henry. But consider that,… Read more »
Great man, and happy to be keeping him, but talk of 5 year deal at 7.5 mil per year? that is ludicrous money. Even a certain Oligarch down the road with unlimited funds only offered a 2 year deal to a manager that delivered him the FA cup and Champions league in 5 months… Im a fan from South Africa so i don’t bear anywhere near the burden of costs as ST holders do but I’m sure there are a few that will be grumpy about this.
Considering the amount of profits he generates in the transfer window for the club, 7.5M per year(over 5 yrs) is peanuts.
To be honest they’ll probably offer him more.
Park, your right bollock should do the talking. Wenger revolutionised English football in the 90’s. Wenger is the most successful manager in the clubs history. Are you seriously comparing the Chelsea manager to Wenger? This isn’t a case of comapring apple and oranges. It more like apples and a speck of dust.
I’m not comparing them as managers at all. I was just indicating the disparity between the deals that have been offered while also considering who is offering them. We cant afford wages of top, top players, but we pay our manager the most in world football.
“talk of 5 year deal at 7.5 mil per year?” I have read the Telegraph piece and I do not recognise those figures, any figures regarding his contract come to that.
Can you tell me where these come from please mate.
Say what you want about Ivan, but there’s no denying he has the gift of the gab.
He could sell ‘ketchup to a tomato’
Tom hicks (liverpool) on the other hand would sale his car and buy an alarm for that same car he sold. What a dumb arse.
i find that alarming!!
…………………..I’ll get my coat.
I think you should get your car.
*Mine too.
please. he’s not an arse.
Most snake oil salesmen can. it’s in their DNA !
I would like to see Arsene go for the FA cup this year also off topic but how long do we have until we pay off the stadium ?
I thought it was planned to be paid off by 2020? No evidence to support that though. Just a guess.
Well, I’m certain of one thing.. If it turns out that all our parsimonious behaviour in the last several years will come to an end in 2014, I wouldn’t want anybody but Arsene Wenger at the helm.
It makes absolute sense to give Arsene a new contract which runs for atleast three years post 2014. When we made the stadium move circa 2005, the world was nowhere near an economic meltdown. We knew the next 5 to 8 years would be tough but nobody knew that the difficulties would be compounded by the global financial meltdown (Europe has had it even worse…!!) and of course the oil powered clubs. The equations basically got skewed heavily against us. Yet this man has managed to swim through some real rough waters to keep us in the champions league places… Read more »
Arsene and Arsenal, what a name-marriage there? Ferguson and Arsenal, Mourinho and Arsenal? No, no and no…… There is only one Arsene and he’s gotten an Arsenal DNA baby!!!
its like mancini and man city. oops
You just have to look at the manager’s name to know that he’s got Arsenal DNA. ARSENE
Didn’t we hear just the same thing from Edleman ? Gazedis makes some valid points but he also spouts nonsense. Is Stan ‘the cash man’ Kronke “part of Arsenal’s DNA” ? Is he ?? We’ve currently gone 7 years winning nothing. If it get’s to 10 – and we all hope it doesn’t ! – but if it does, the “we’re the most ambitious club in the world” spiel will be impossible to maintain. It’s dubious – at best – now. So – as always – it comes down to matches won and lost. At least with Bouldy on board,… Read more »
Do you think if rednose retires next season, Arsene too will start to think about calling his time on arsenal too. I mean they are all from the same era so I’m just kinda worried here. Just saying.
I doubt so. Despite hailing from the same era, Arsene is younger than SAF by quite a few years (8, me thinks?). If rednose can last into his 70s, why can’t Le Prof? 😉
Have you seen Mendoza around here lately? I’m looking for him.
Shame he probably won’t write a book or autobiography. I’d love to see an inside glimpse at the way his brilliant economic mind works.
You can see it in the way he conducts transfers.
He decides on a target and how much that player is worth to us. That’s what he’ll pay. A player he’s decided is worth, say, 15m does not suddenly become worth 30m just because Shiteh or Chelski are prepared to punt 25.
Arsene does not do bidding wars and I happen to think he’s right. If anyone thinks we should have a manager who reckons that buying whoever the press think is hot shit this week at whatever it takes is the right approach, I believe that Dalglish is available…….
[…] 面对电讯报的采访，这位阿森纳CEO又开始满嘴的公关术语，有些言论有意义，有些就难以令阿丝们信服。而电讯报的大字标题一向是哗然取众毫无意义，不过文章内容却值得一看。咱分段讨论好了，加齐迪斯先谈温格及其2014年到期的合同能否续约的事。 “这不是出于感情主义，不是对温格效力多年的奖励，而是我们坚信我们拥有一位深爱俱乐部的非常出色的教练，而他就是带领我们前进的最佳人选。我们对于俱乐部目前的发展方向非常有信心。我觉得他还可以继续干好长一段时间。他身子很好，一如既往地充满动力。” […]
[…] 来源：[Arseblog News] […]
I think herein lies the problem. The club cannot think beyond Arsene.
In 1996, if you told me you were going to hire some unknown guy from Japan- I would have been skeptical.. But the risk was worth it right?
Now is the time for the club to show some balls and learn to look beyond Arsene.