Wenger signs till 2011

LONDON: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger (pic) has put pen to paper on a three-year contract extension which will keep him at the Gunners till 2011, the club said yesterday.
The contract of the 57-year-old Frenchman had been due to expire at the end of the season.

Wenger’s future had been rumoured to be in doubt following the controversial departure of former vice-chairman and close ally David Dein in April, but he has now decided to stay on.

Wenger told the club’s official website www.arsenal.com: "My heart is tied to this football club so signing a new deal was always my intention. Arsenal is the club of my life.

"I have been entrusted with complete freedom to implement and execute my plans on what will make the team successful and that means I have a responsibility to the fans to deliver silverware and also a responsibility to the players to help turn our potential into prizes.
"This club has deep-seated roots and a tremendous heritage and it is my aim to uphold these important values and help create new history for future generations to recount."

Gunners chairman Peter Hill-Wood added: "It is wonderful news for Arsenal Football Club that Arsene has signed an extension to his contract. We have been at Emirates Stadium for a year now and go from strength to strength off the pitch.

"With Arsene continuing to manage the team, I am sure we can look forward to more exciting football and success on the pitch. Arsene has a special ability to develop talented players and turn them into world-class stars, a quality that is admired here at the club and indeed around the world."

Wenger joined Arsenal in 1996 from J League side Nagoya Grampus Eight and has revolutionised the north London club. The Frenchman won the domestic double in 1998 and 2002, winning the Premier League three times and the FA Cup four times so far.

He has yet to lead the Gunners to European silverware however, with the club finishing runners-up in the UEFA Cup in 2000 and the Champions League in 2006. — AFP

United to probe Liverpool over Heinze transfer

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed Manchester United are investigating Liverpool over the Anfield outfit's conduct in the Gabriel Heinze affair.

Heinze has now left Old Trafford for Real Madrid - but only after a protracted attempt to join Liverpool, which saw the Argentina defender take his case to the Premier League this week.

A three-man panel eventually dismissed Heinze's argument that a letter signed by Red Devils chief executive David Gill - citing a fee at which a deal could be done - constituted an agreement to sell.

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez was flabbergasted at the verdict, claiming he had been '100% certain' Heinze would end up at Anfield.

Ferguson labelled Benitez's remarks 'churlish', then confirmed Gill is leading an inquiry into the way Liverpool have acted.

'We are looking at Liverpool's whole role in this,' he said.

'We are not letting them off with it. That is what we are investigating.'

Asked whether he was alleging Liverpool had `tapped up' Heinze, Ferguson replied: 'We will see how it comes out. David Gill is working on that at the moment. We will get to the bottom of it.'

Ferguson was always confident the Premier League would back United's stance of not selling to Liverpool, or any of their major domestic rivals.

He was quick to hit back at Benitez's jibe that United enjoy favouritism in the drafting of the fixture list.

'It is disappointing stuff,' said Ferguson.

'He talks about the fixtures. He should have seen our fixtures over over the last two or three seasons.

'There was never any chance of Liverpool winning that case, so Rafa clearly did not read the Premier League rules. It is just churlish.'