Arsenal manager Wenger to step down at end of season

Arsene Wenger will end his 22 year reign as manager of Arsenal at the end of the season, the club's holding company announced on Friday.

The 68-year-old French manager’s tenure brought an array of silverware to the club, including three premier league titles and seven FA cups, and saw them reach the Champions League final in 2006 where the club lost out to Barcelona.

In a statement released on the club's website, Wenger said: "After careful consideration and following discussions with the club, I feel it is the right time for me to step down at the end of the season. I am grateful for having had the privilege to serve the club for so many memorable years. I managed the club with full commitment and integrity."

Arsenal's largest shareholder Stan Kroenke said: "We have high ambitions to build on Arsene’s remarkable tenure and to honour his vision by ensuring that Arsenal competes for and wins the biggest and most important prizes in the game. We must now focus on making a strong finish to the season and ask our millions of fans around the world to join us in paying appropriate tribute to one of the greats of Arsenal’s history and one of the greats of the game."

A statement from Arsenal Holdings Plc said the club would not be commenting on possible successors until an appointment is made.

Having joined the club in 1996 from Japan's Nagoya Grampus Eight, the former Monaco manager is the longest-serving current boss in the entire football league by almost a decade.

After his successful early years, which included winning two league and cup doubles and presiding over the legendary ‘invincibles’ squad of the 2003-04 season that won the Premier League without a single defeat, Wenger has not been able to win the league title since.

The club's move from the marble halls of Highbury to the £390m Emirates Stadium in 2006 proved a weight on the club's finances that sparked a lengthy period without silverware, where the only compensation was a record run of 19 successive Champions League campaigns before Arsenal lifted the FA Cup in 2014, 2015 and 2017.

Spoiled by Wenger's early successes and unmoved the FA Cup victories, many Arsenal fans have turned against the manager over the past few seasons, leading to stadium protests and the phrase 'Wenger Out' becoming a worldwide meme.

Arsenal currently sit in sixth place in the Premier League and look likely to miss out on the coveted top four spots for a second successive year, but are still competing in the Europa League knock-out tournament, with a two-legged semifinal against Atletico Madrid next week.

Wenger ended his statement with a message to club supporters: “I urge our fans to stand behind the team to finish on a high. To all the Arsenal lovers take care of the values of the club. My love and support for ever.”