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Arsene Wenger: is it time to say goodbye?

On Sunday afternoon, the final whistle from Kevin Friend at Dean Court confirmed an eery predicament for Arsenal Football Club. Their first ever loss to AFC Bournemouth – a sixth-place league positioning, 23 points off the summit of the Premier League – and the impending departure of their star Chilean forward, Alexis Sanchez, to either Manchester City or Manchester United. 

Arsene Wenger’s historic tenure at the helm of Arsenal FC has been far from simplistic, with the sale of key players in the Highbury to Emirates transitional stage a source of unrest from the Gunners’ fanbase, though in moving to the Emirates, Arsenal were supposedly elevating themselves to a pedestal of new-found competitiveness – the Invincible era could be reborn once more.

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Though the last few seasons for Arsene Wenger have been far from what the Frenchman might’ve dreamt of in his concluding seasons with the club. FA Cup successes in 2014, 2015 and most recently 2017 have masked the cracks and given Arsenal’s fanbase reasons to cheer amidst the doom and gloom of sustained mediocrity, though the 2017/18 season has brought with it what many are arguing could be, and must be, the final chapter in Wenger’s north London novella.

22 years ago, Arsene Wenger arrived as a somewhat unknown entity to Arsenal, though two decades later, he has written a chapter of rich history that English football will certainly not be forgetting anytime soon. He is an iconic manager, responsible for some of the finest footballing feats our country has witnessed, though Wenger’s beloved football club are void of direction, lacking guile and charisma, though perhaps above all, one senses even Wenger knows his time is up in the capital.

Arsenal are a club on their knees, crying out to be re-energised with the impetus of a younger, enthused manager, but with undeniable resources in the form of Stan Kroenke’s admittedly reluctant purse strings to assist in the process of reshaping and restructuring a squad which looks set to be depleted of at least one of its star assets.

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The failed £60m bid from Manchester City in August for Alexis Sanchez was a clear indicator the Chilean forward would be departing the Emirates in either January or July upon the completion of his Arsenal contract, though the financial muscle of the Glazier’s looks to be engineering a move to the red half of Manchester for Sanchez. As Arsenal and their fanbase are fixed in a state of discontent and disillusionment with the state their club has been seemingly reduced to, the competitors from the upper echelons of the Premier League, reportedly as of Monday now including Chelsea, are lining up extravagant bids for one of the finest players the Premier League has seen in recent years.

Equally, with Mesut Ozil’s contract now just six months away from expiration, one would find it surprising if this Sanchez saga is the last transfer heartbreak the Gunners endure in the remainder of this calendar year. The contractual issues in the form of Sanchez and Ozil are beyond the control of Wenger himself, indeed they lie further up the hierarchy with majority shareholder Stan Kroenke, though in a season where Arsenal have fallen short of the expectations bestowed upon them, these transfer sagas simply add to the pressure mounting on Wenger as cries for departures and resignations of Arsenal’s most successful manager ever build by the hour. 

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Arsene Wenger will forever remain a legend of the English game. The second most wins ever by a Premier League manager to date, a pioneer of dietary, nutritional and fitness-based regimes that accelerated Arsenal’s successes in the early 2000s, a man who has remained principled, polite and with a respectable trophy cabinet to show for it all.

The transition from Highbury to the Emirates was one he saw occur, Arsenal’s spending curbed accordingly though top-four finishes were delivered consistently for over 19 years, and due to this a sense of leniency has evolved from Kroenke. In his eyes, Wenger will decide when he leaves Arsenal Football Club, and arguably, Kroenke has a point. This is a man who the English game is blessed to have had on our shores, his contribution invaluable through so many spectrums, the architect of Arsenal’s ‘Invincible’ streak and the guiding professor behind prodigies such as Henry, Viera and Adams, though as the old adage is well known to state: “All good things must come to an end”.

And no questions asked, Arsene Wenger represents so much ‘good’, though his legacy risks falling by the wayside if results continue and performances fall short. An iconic manager, a legend of his time, though as 2017/18 draws to a close in May, Arsene, I fear it may be time to say goodbye. 

Written by Tom Newman.

Tom Newman

Founder and Editor at 90MAAT.

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