Arsenal chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, has revealed that the club decided to offer Arsene Wenger a new two-year deal, because “You don’t fire world-class people”.
Wenger’s contract extension was confirmed on Wednesday.
The announcement brings to an end months of uncertainty, after a turbulent campaign.
Wenger failed to guide the Gunners into the top four in the Premier League for the first time in his 21-year stint at the club, but ended up winning a record-breaking 13th FA Cup last weekend.
Gazidis insists that Wenger remains the best man for the job at the Emirates.
“When you look at the world of football, and you think about the great candidates that there are – and there are many great coaching candidates in the world and Arsenal is a club that all of them would want to work for because of the things we represent in football,” Gazidis said.
“But when you look around and make that assessment, you don’t find any better candidates than Arsene Wenger.
“I think in football, the judgements are so black and white that often, if you don’t fire your manager, then you’re seen as being unambitious,” he added.
“I think that’s ludicrous.
“You don’t fire good people, you don’t fire people who are world-class, you don’t fire people who are driven to improve.
“What you do is work out how you can improve together and how you can move forward. That’s what this club is doing and we have a very clear ambition that we want to deliver it in.”
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