Embattled Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has cited ‘age discrimination’ behind increasing calls for him to leave the club he’s managed since 1996.
Arsenal currently sit 33 points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City as the Gunners look set for another season without Champions League football, unless they can finish this season by winning the Europa League.
Wenger’s position as the club’s manager will be reviewed at the end of the season by the Arsenal board but the Frenchman thinks that calls for him to move on stem from ageism.
“You focus on doing well for your club and ignore all the rest,” the 68-year-old told BeIN Sport. “Overall the older you get the more it becomes a little bit age discrimination.
“I can accept that if the results are not good enough… but overall that perpetual thing of a link with how long you’ve been at the club, how old you are, I find that a bit difficult to take.”
Wenger believes his body of work for the club will stand the test of time but that he’s growing increasingly frustrated with how his current situation with Arsenal is perceived.
“I am naive enough to believe that with the time going on, the perspective, the emotional context going, it will stand out what I’ve done for my club, not so much the last result or the last game I won or how much I’ve been applauded,” Wenger added.
“I’m a little bit fed up with all that modern thing of completely taking care of your image. I’ve always worked my whole life with the idea it’s more important who you are than how you look.”
