[ 2014-05-19 ]

Arsenal to sign up Arsene Wenger with club-record £100 million transfer boost
Arsenal will hand Arsene Wenger a £24m contract
and £100m transfer kitty in the next 72 hours
after he ended the club's nine-year trophy
drought.

Sportsmail understands Wenger's will sign a
three-year deal worth in the region of
£8million-per-season in wages.

And he will be given the biggest transfer budget
in Arsenal history to help him win the Premier
League title for the first time since 2004.

The Red Sea: Thousands of fans turned out to
celebrate Arsenal's first silverware in nine
years

Wenger has been re-invigorated after watching his
team beat Hull City in Saturday's FA Cup final -
the fifth time he has lifted the trophy as Arsenal
boss - and will now stay at the Emirates.

Asked if the new deal would be signed soon, he
said: 'Yes - because I go to Brazil on June 10.'

The length of the deal is viewed as a significant
statement of unwavering support from the club's
hierarchy. And they will also give Wenger the all
clear to go on an unprecedented spending spree
this summer to ensure the club build upon their FA
Cup success.

Wenger will have £100m to spend on transfers and
wages. His priority is to convince full-back
Bacary Sagna and keeper Lukasz Fabianski to stay
at the club, but the Arsenal manager has also
identified three key areas to strengthen this
summer. He wants a new striker, a holding
centre-midfielder and a right-back.

Hitman: Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema (centre)
remains a top target for Arsenal

Combative: Wenger is also taking a keen interest
in Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Lars Bender
(right)



Up front: Bayern Munich striker Mario Mandzukic is
likely to be up for grabs, with Arsenal
interested


Bayern Munich's Mario Mandzukic and Real Madrid's
Karim Benzema are among Wenger's top striker
targets.

Bayer Leverkusen's Lars Bender and Southampton's
Morgan Schneiderlin are midfielders who have been
watched extensively by the Gunners scouts, while
Toulouse's Serge Aurier, Southampton's Calum
Chambers and Manchester City's Micah Richards are
right-back options should Sagna depart.

Wenger said: 'First we have to wait for Sagna and
see what he will do - also Fabianski. After we
have to bring in two to three players to
strengthen the squad, that's for sure.

'Unfortunately everywhere we go there are many
teams on the market at the moment.'

Arsenal's triumph on Saturday was Wenger's first
trophy since Patrick Vieira struck the winning
spot kick in a penalty shootout against Manchester
United in the 2005 FA Cup final at the Millennium
Stadium.

He admitted: 'I questioned myself because we live
in a world where people always tell you what you
haven't done. They never say what you have done.

'I believe as well that the quality of the club is
its consistency. The special players help you to
win trophies, but the quality of consistency is
important for a club.

'And on that front, we've been better than
everybody. There are only two clubs in Europe who
have qualified for the Champions League for 17
seasons consecutively.

'That consistency demands special values inside
the club. I work seven days a week because I want
to win. It's difficult. 'Unfortunately you don't
win on command. Our job is very easy when we win
things. When we don't win, we need some strength
to continue to grow.

'Some clubs haven't won a trophy for 20 years and
they don't get that question.

'This is my 14th cup final and I fight very hard
to win, doing everything every day of my life to
try to win. If I don't manage to do it, it's not
because of a lack of commitment. I try my best.'

Source - Daily Mail, UK

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