Wenger claims top-four failure will not affect Arsenal decision

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger claims that missing out on a place in the Champions League will not have a huge impact on his future.

The Gunners have never failed to qualify for the competition since Wenger took charge in 1996, but Saturday’s 3-1 Premier League loss to West Brom has left them six points adrift of the top four in sixth place.

Wenger stated after the match that he has made up his mind on whether or not he will stay at Emirates Stadium, but although speculation suggests he will sign a new contract, he would not confirm his plans in public.

There have been rumours that a failure to secure a Champions League spot could be decisive for the Frenchman’s future but he insists that is not the case.

”My decision will not necessarily be linked with that because I’ve done the top four 20 times. It’s more, it’s not that,” he said.

”I take a bigger perspective than that. It’s not the last result that will decide what I will do.

”It’s not [the end of the world], not any more. That was for a long time the case, but not today. Financially, I mean.

”Of course, on the sporting front it would be a blow, but financially the Champions League does not have the impact any more that it had five or six years ago because of the influx of the television money [to the Premier League].”

Wenger remains a divisive figure among Arsenal fans, with planes trailing banners saying ‘No new contract Wenger out’ and ‘In Arsene We Trust #RESPECTAW’ flying over The Hawthorns during the first half of Saturday’s match.

There were further protests in the stands as Arsenal succumbed to a fourth defeat in five league matches, but Wenger stopped short of calling the actions of those fans disrespectful.

”I don’t know [if it is],” he said. “I don’t want to judge. I’m judged enough and I’m not a judge so I can’t answer.

”Everybody in life is responsible for his own behaviour. I’m responsible for my own behaviour. I don’t judge other people.

”I give my best. As long as I am at the club, whether that is for two more years, 10 more years or four more months, that will not be different. As for all the rest, everybody has to look at themselves.”