Frustration: Arsenal Emirates Stadium loans came from my commitment -Arsene Wenger

Sports Update

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger claims his commitment to the club helped secure the bank loans required to fund the construction of Emirates Stadium.

Fans are set to protest this weekend after a disappointing season that has seen the Gunners' Premier League title challenge fade.


"When we built the stadium the banks demanded that I signed for five years," said the 66-year-old Frenchman.

"Do you want me to say how many clubs I turned down during that period?"

Construction began on the £390m Emirates Stadium in 2004, the year Wenger won the last of his three league titles with the club.

"The banks wanted the technical consistency to guarantee that we have a chance to pay them back," added Wenger, who has been in charge of the north Londoners since 1996.
Fans gunning for Wenger

Arsenal topped the Premier League at the turn of the year but have since slipped to fourth, some 12 points behind leaders Leicester, who can win the title this weekend.

The Gunners were also knocked out of the FA Cup, which they have won for the past two seasons, by Watford in the quarter-finals, and their Champions League campaign again ended in the last 16 for the sixth successive season.

During Saturday's home game against Norwich, fans' groups Black Scarf Movement, RedAction and the Arsenal Supporters Trust want supporters to raise placards reading: "Time for change. Arsenal is stale, fresh approach needed."

However, Wenger said his critics had gone "too far".

He added: "I did commit and I stayed, and under very difficult circumstances.

"So for me to come back and, on top of that, (critics) reproach me for not having won the championship during that period, it is a bit overboard."
Source: BBCsports