Football
Mattias Karen, Arsenal correspondent 7y

Arsene Wenger: Fans' opinion will be key in whether I stay at Arsenal

Arsene Wenger might not have ruled out managing England one day, but the idea of singing the wrong national anthem still seems "bizarre" to him.

The Frenchman has made it clear that his first choice would be to continue managing Arsenal but, after saying that he'd be open to such a scenario "one day, if I am free," the Arsenal boss expanded on his thoughts about the future in a briefing with reporters.

"People know that if things go well, my priority is this club. But I have to accept that if things don't go well, maybe I'll do something else," Wenger said.

That something else could well be international management, as both the FA and French federations might be keen on his services. Wenger has previously often said he thinks England should be managed by an Englishman, but joked that he could be exempt to that rule.

"Yeah, because I know 'God Save the Queen,'" he said. "No, but I still think that yes. I think the priority is for an English guy to manage England. Because it looked always a bit bizarre to me that if I manage England and play against France I cannot sing the French national anthem. It's something that always looked strange to me."

However, the 66-year-old admitted that he sometimes feels like he has dual nationalities after two decades living in England.

"When I come back to London I feel I go home," he said. "I'm not English, I'm French, and I feel French as well. But of course you do not spend 20 years in a country without identifying with, or getting used to, some values and some behaviours of the local culture."

Wenger is currently on a high around the Emirates after a strong run of results -- including an impressive 3-0 victory over rival Chelsea -- that has helped quiet the sometimes fierce criticism he has faced over the last six months. It would seem like a perfect time for the club to offer him a contract extension, but Wenger has insisted that those talks will wait until the end of the season.

And he reiterated that the mood among fans will be a decisive factor in whether he stays on.

"The [key] factors is first of all that the club and supporters still want me. And the other one is that I still want to," he said. "What would make me want to stay is that I feel I can give more to this club."

One way to virtually guarantee a new contract would be to deliver a first Premier League title since 2004. And Wenger thinks the victory over Chelsea could represent "a turning point" when it comes to convincing his squad they can be champions.

"How far can we go? We don't really know, but hopefully we can strengthen the belief that we can do really well," he said. "I believe we are a bit more mature, and the squad is quite strong. So let's see. But maybe the Premiership is more difficult than ever this season, and we have many big teams. The result against Chelsea will help us, but we have to show that we can be consistent and do well in the other big games."

And while it would be nice to emulate Alex Ferguson, who decided to end his 26-year reign at Manchester United after winning the league title, Wenger said going out on a high was not his main priority.

"I'm not obsessed by that, because I think Ferguson [would] still be the same great manager had he not gone out on a high," Wenger said. "You don't keep, from his experience, just the last year."

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