Arsene Wenger signals desire to extend Arsenal contract

Arsene Wenger has indicated a readiness to extend his Arsenal contract, saying there ought to be no complications in reaching an agreement.

The manager will celebrate the 17th anniversary of his appointment on Monday and he made it clear he is thinking beyond his current deal, which expires at the end of the season.

“The good thing with me . . . if I have one quality, you don’t need a lot of talks to extend the contract I have,” said Wenger. “When will I sign? I don’t know. When we find time. I don’t think that [the contract] is the most important problem at the moment. That’s straightforward.

“I would love to be here forever because that would mean I would be immortal! I’m not naive enough to believe that. I just want to focus on the quality of our season . . . I want to feel that I do well and then the question of me staying will be secondary after that.”

Exploratory talks
Wenger said in July that he had spoken to the chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, about extending – it is believed the club wants him to sign for three years – and the French man has maintained he will commit only if he feels he is getting the maximum out of the players. But Wenger, who has the full support of majority shareholder Stan Kroenke spoke with excitement about what he believes could be a successful period.

Ozil's arrival
"We are resource-wise more competitive, that's for sure," he said. "This is the first year that we have not only not lost a big player but bought a big player [Mesut Ozil]. In recent years, because we have lost players, we had to face a lower level of expectation and that is quite hard for me."

Wenger has a lengthy injury list and he revealed that Theo Walcott, who underwent abdominal surgery on Wednesday, would "realistically" be out for five weeks, rather than the three that had initially been suggested.
Guardian Service