Arsène Wenger renews his Arsenal vows

Arsène Wenger ended a nine-year wait for a trophy by winning the FA Cup earlier this month (Getty Images)

Arsène Wenger is targeting more silverware with Arsenal after agreeing a new contract with the club until 2017.

The 64-year-old Frenchman, who is the Premier League’s longest-serving manager having taken charge in 1996, ended a nine-year wait for a trophy by winning the FA Cup earlier this month.

“I want to stay,” Wenger said. “We are entering a very exciting period. We have a strong squad, financial stability and huge support. We are all determined to bring more success to this club.

“The club has always shown faith in me and I’m very grateful. We have gone through fantastic periods and also periods where we have had to stick together. Every time when that togetherness was tested I got the right response. I have shown loyalty and hopefully we can make some more history. I am sure we can.”

This year’s FA Cup triumph was Wenger’s eighth major trophy with Arsenal, having won the Premier League three times and the FA Cup five times. He has also led Arsenal to 17 successive seasons of Champions League qualification and taken charge of 1,010 Arsenal matches.

The club’s majority shareholder Stan Kroenke said: “Sustained excellence is the hardest thing to achieve in sport and the fact Arsenal has competed at the top of the game in England and Europe throughout the time Arsène has been manager, is the ultimate testimony to his consistency of performance, talent and ambition.

“Under his guidance we look forward to adding more trophies in future seasons.”

There was also support for the new deal from several players, including midfielder Aaron Ramsey, who tweeted: “Congratulations to the boss on signing for another 3 years, looking forward to building on last season’s success.”