'Real won't get Wenger'

Wenger: expected to stay at Arsenal

14 April 2012

Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood is convinced Arsene Wenger will resist any offer to take over as the new manager of Real Madrid.

Wenger has been linked with the job following the resignation this week of Jose Camacho and the assurance by England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson that he will honour his contract with the Football Association.

Hill-Wood said: "I am absolutely certain that Arsene will stay at Arsenal. I cannot believe he would go there. We are having talks about a new contract and they are progressing well. Our negotiations with him are always very gentlemanly and there is no confrontation at all. As far as we are concerned, he can stay here as long as he wants to do the job."

Wenger's contract runs out in 13 months, but negotiations are in an advanced stage to secure him until

2008. It is expected that he will sign the three-year extension next month.

Hill-Wood added: "He is very well paid at Arsenal but he is not particularly motivated by money. I don't think he would be attracted by a club like Real where, we hear, the president buys the players without telling the manager.

"He has a free rein at Arsenal and we have a very good relationship with him. He is involved in all aspects of running the club - the new stadium, the financial side, the buying and selling of players.

He knows what we can afford and is happy with that. I would be very surprised if this kind of 'new challenge' would have any appeal."

Since coming to Arsenal in October 1996, he has won three league titles prompting several European clubs, including Real Madrid last season, to try to lure him away.

There was also a bid by the German Football Association to tempt him to take over the hosts of the next World Cup when Rudi Voeller quit after a disastrous Euro 2004 last summer.

But Wenger has spurned all advances. He has a measure of control at Arsenal that he would not find in Spain or Italy and he also feels a loyalty towards his players. Stars such as Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires have all signed long-term contracts after reassurances that Wenger is committed to the club.

Meanwhile, Eddie Niedzwiecki who left Arsenal to be Blackburn's first-team coach, paid tribute to Wenger. He said: "Arsene's reaction was first class. His words were 'Eddie, I don't want you to go, I want you to stay, you have done a good job here, but I can see that it's a progression'.

"I took my last training session at Arsenal on Saturday and it was quite emotional because they had become like family to me."

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'Real won't get Wenger'

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