Arsenal plan for life without Wenger with Martinez and Klopp in frame if French boss doesn't sign new contract

  • Arsene Wenger's Arsenal deal runs out at the end of the season
  • He is expected to sign a two-year extention
  • However, Arsenal have a contingency plan should Wenger quit
  • Roberto Martinez and Jurgen Klopp have impressed Gunners board

By Sami Mokbel and Neil Ashton

PUBLISHED: 17:30 EST, 24 March 2014 | UPDATED: 02:50 EST, 25 March 2014

Arsenal still expect Arsene Wenger to sign a new contract but they have started planning for life without their manager.

Wenger, whose deal expires at the end of the season, has given the Gunners his word that he will stay on.

Talks initially centred on a three-year deal worth £8million a season but it is understood a two-year extension is now more likely.

VIDEO Scroll down for Arsenal players congratulate Arsene Wenger on his 1,000th game

Plenty to ponder: Arsene Wenger on the training ground at Arsenal's London Colney base on Monday

Plenty to ponder: Arsene Wenger on the training ground at Arsenal's London Colney base on Monday

Uncertain: Wenger's contract expires this summer, but he has given Arsenal his word that he will stay

Uncertain: Wenger's contract expires this summer, but he has given Arsenal his word that he will stay

 
 

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Wenger still enjoys the unequivocal backing of Arsenal’s majority shareholder Stan Kroenke, who is in no doubt the manager will sign a contract that has been on the table for months.

But Saturday’s humiliating 6-0 defeat at title rivals Chelsea has nonetheless sparked uncertainty about the Frenchman’s future.

And Arsenal have started looking at contingency strategies should he make a last-minute U-turn and quit the Emirates. A long-term plan for life after Wenger is also in the club’s thoughts, with a new-look management structure likely. 

Roberto Martinez’s work in his first season at Everton has impressed the Gunners, as has Jurgen Klopp’s reign at last season’s Champions League runners-up Borussia Dortmund.  

Implementing a two-tier structure, which would see a head coach working under a director of football, is under consideration and would represent a huge shift in ethos. Wenger currently has the final say on all football decisions.

Down: The defeat was Arsenal's heaviest at Stamford Bridge and Jose Mourinho's biggest as Chelsea boss

Down: The defeat was Arsenal's heaviest at Stamford Bridge and Jose Mourinho's biggest as Chelsea boss

Faith: Wenger took charge of his 1,000th Arsenal game at Chelsea on Saturday

Faith: Wenger took charge of his 1,000th Arsenal game at Chelsea on Saturday

Humiliation: Arsenal were hammered 6-0 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon

Humiliation: Arsenal were hammered 6-0 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon

Victory over Swansea would help draw a line under Saturday’s embarrassing loss but the Gunners go into the game without key defender Laurent Koscielny, who sustained a calf injury at Stamford Bridge.

It is feared the France centre back could miss around two weeks, ruling him out of the crunch match against Manchester City on Saturday. 

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs will be available, however, after the FA upheld Arsenal’s appeal over the latter’s controversial sending-off against Chelsea. Gibbs was shown the red card in a case of mistaken identity by referee Andre Marriner. Oxlade-Chamberlain, not his team-mate, had committed handball in the six-yard box.

Overturned: Arsenal launched two successful appeals against Kieran Gibbs' sending off at Chelsea

Overturned: Arsenal launched two successful appeals against Kieran Gibbs' sending off at Chelsea

Identity crisis: Gibbs was sent off, even though it was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who handballed

Identity crisis: Gibbs was sent off, even though it was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who handballed

Back in action: Oxlade-Chamberlain (above) and Gibbs are both available for Arsenal's game against Swansea

Back in action: Oxlade-Chamberlain (above) and Gibbs are both available for Arsenal's game against Swansea

Arsenal’s claim that Oxlade-Chamberlain had not prevented a clear goalscoring opportunity, because Eden Hazard’s shot was going wide, was also upheld by the FA.

Referee Marriner stays on the Premier League match list this weekend and will take charge of Newcastle’s visit to Southampton.

Marriner was expected to be dropped for the next round of fixtures following his high-profile blunder but referees chiefs decided to stand by their man.

Let off: Andre Marriner will take charge of Southampton against Newcastle this weekend

Let off: Andre Marriner will take charge of Southampton against Newcastle this weekend

 

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IF and WHEN Wenger goes, I would LOVE Klopp at Arsenal before anyone else ... blokes a nutcase and we need a nutcase at Arsenal.

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9 years... it doesn't matter if you win every trophy available for the next 20, you will always have the shame of 9 years...LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

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Like City still have the shame of 35 years? Don't be silly.

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CL will matter if we want world class players coming to Arsenal!

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Wenger's for the chop, so Klopp's going to the flops? What a bunch of sops.

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No title for FIFTY-THREE years, and he calls US flops. Oh the irony....

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Who next in line armed with £110million for spurs to try and get cl football??

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We love Wenger and appreciate all he has done both in the early years and throughout the development, however it has been disheartening having such a poor success rate against our main competitors. Im not in a great hurry to ship him out, but if he did decide to call it a day I'd take Klopp over Martinez. Im not fooled by the story btw, I have noticed the lack of concrete fact, or quotation, but as its been written to spark up debate I thought I'd just add my piece.

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Klop to Arsenal? I think he would rather a mid-tabled team according to you (man Utd) than go Arsenal!! PLus why get rid of Wenger?? the club sells all his best players to rivals and players like Giourd cant score to save his life!.

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Who the hell is "Giourd"???

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Not a single Quote=Article a waste of time.

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Why AW does not win since 2005? Because Arsenal chose to build itself a magnificent stadium and to make profitable it very quickly. AW is the fellow man Fergusson and he is going to gain(win) champions league in 2 or 3 years with the player's young generation that he chose. It is the right man for the job who built our club. With the arrival of Puma; arsenal will be present on the transfer window market

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I think Wenger is just obsessed with tiki taka but it won't work in the PL.. The league is too rough, fast and needs physical attributes, we have Ozil, Cazorla, Flamini, Walcott, Wilshere, Ramsey, Arteta who are not your Yaya, Fernandinho, Matic, Mikel, Luiz, Fellaini,Gerard, Lampard etc.. We lack pace too, and that is one of the biggest problems, we have so many slow players.. Wenger has to sit down and look back to when he was successful, he had, Keown, Romford pele, Viera, Bergkamp, Pirez, Henry, Gilberto, etc... But anyway, COME ON ARSENAL..

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Tiki-taka will work everywhere.It won't work if your players lose the ball under little pressure.

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I think Wenger should get one more season, if we truly do have £100m+ to spend this summer then it will be first time Wenger can really splash the cash with the blessing of the board, if he brings in 2/3 world class £30m+ players then I think we will be up there challenging next season, if he still doesn't spend big, then I agree it might be time to move on. Looking at potential successors, Jurgen Klopp has been mentioned a lot, looks a great tacticion and seems to motivate very well, to me he looks as though he could be another Mourinho, will win things but with the occasional tendency to let his ego get the better of him, and I don't see him as a manager who will be in it for the long haul, maybe 3-4 years and he'll be off again, I guess Arsenal need to decide whether they want someone who might stay and build another dynasty (more likely Martinez) or someone who could be a quick fix and win a few trophies but be gone in a few years like Klopp.

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