UK Edition
Core of Arsene Wenger's backroom staff handed new Arsenal deals
Arsene Wenger has retained his core backroom staff at Arsenal despite the ongoing off-field staff changes that followed the club dropping out of the Champions League.
Chief executive Ivan Gazidis had described this summer as being a “catalyst for change” and, while Darren Burgess and Huss Fahmy have been appointed in newly created and senior off-field positions, there have also been new contracts for Wenger’s long-term colleagues.
The position of fitness coach Tony Colbert and goalkeeping coach Gerry Peyton were understood to be under scrutiny but they have both now agreed new deals.
Burgess is coming in with the title of director high performance to work alongside Shad Forsythe, the head of athletics performance, who was part of Germany's World Cup-winning backroom team.
Colbert is also still staying on after working with Wenger for the past 19 years. Peyton has been with Arsenal since the departure of Bob Wilson in 2003 and will also continue next season. Wenger's two first-team most senior technical staff – first-team coach Boro Primorac and assistant manager Steve Bould – are also staying on.
Arsenal are still assessing candidates for the role of academy director but Andy Woodman, who is a close friend and former team-mate of England manager Gareth Southagte, has come in to work with the club’s younger goalkeepers. Fahmy will work on contracts with transfer negotiator Dick Law and Gazidis.
A question and answer session is being held at the Emirates tonight at which Gazidis is certain to be asked about both the decision to extend Wenger’s contract and the extent to which real change has been instigated behind the scenes.
He will also outline why the club's board concluded that Wenger is still the outstanding candidate to lead Arsenal after a very mixed season that ended with a record-breaking seventh FA Cup win but a Premier League finish of fifth.
The futures of key players, notably Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, will also be on the agenda but, with so many unresolved negotiations taking place, Gazidis is likely to give little away in respect of the club's transfer window plans.