Various newspapers are reporting that Arsene Wenger will be assured he is the man to revive Arsenal’s fortunes at a board meeting with the club’s American owner Stan Kroenke today.
The club have confirmed the manager will meet Kroenke, who arrived in London to watch Arsenal’s 3-1 defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League, after training.
Despite fan discontent with the team, Wenger is said to be under no threat from the board and his contract, which runs to 2014, is expected to be fulfilled by both sides.
Wenger was reported to have been shocked by the gulf in class between Arsenal and Bayern on Tuesday, and he will be told there is significant money to spend this summer. Failure to finish in the top four could affect his plans, but reports suggest that Wenger will be giving around £75m net to spend on new players this summer.
We have heard that before, and that kind of transfer spending has never materialized, but if it does happen, some of the players linked with a move to Arsenal include Fiorentina striker Stevan Jovetic, Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina, Borussia Dortmund attacker Mario Gotze and midfielders Victor Wanyama of Celtic and Toulouse’s Etienne Capoue. I am not a fan of Reina, as I think that Valdes from Barcelona would be better choice, but there is no doubt that the likes of Jovetic and Gotze are very talented.
The challenge in attracting these types of players is whether they would come to Arsenal if the Gunners cannot offer them Champions League football next season?