Wenger to see out Arsenal contract

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LONDON, England -- Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has pledged to see out his contract to the end of next season and to develop the young team he and former vice-chairman David Dein have created.

Dein quit the club on Wednesday after 24 years because of "irreconcilable differences" with the rest of the board over the involvement of American tycoon Stan Kroenke, who has bought a significant stake in the club.

Wenger, who has become a good friend of Dein's since being brought into English football by him in 1996, told a news conference: "I will complete my contract, so I am going to stay here until 2008.

"I will continue to give my best as I always have. If this had not happened, people would not be asking me these questions about my contract."

But Wenger, who paid a warm tribute to Dein, stopped short of committing his long-term future to the club.

"I have nearly one and a half year's contract and therefore always feel the interests of fans and the club in my mind and it is important to continue to give my best for the club. And I am committed to do that.

"I don't want to speak about beyond my contract at the moment and prefer to speak only about the short term to the end of the season."

Wenger paid a warm tribute to Dein, saying: "We have lost a man of class, intelligence and competence who made a great contribution to this club.

"It is, of course, an extraordinary loss. David always had in his heart the best interests of the club," said Wenger, who added he would be "faithful to what we built together."

The Frenchman said he had met club directors on Thursday and confirmed that the appointment of an executive football director, to replace Dein, was likely.

"I will need some help," he said. "But I am not focussed on that right now. I will have to think about it. We have to find the best solution."

Wenger felt it was not necessary to follow the examples of Chelsea, owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, Manchester United and Liverpool by being bought out by foreign investors.

"Apart from Abramovich, we don't know how much money there is in the other clubs," he said. "It is much wiser to build a club up as we have and might be much better than to have the guy from the outside."

Wenger said the players, many of whom were close to Dein, were sad about his departure but were now focussed on beating local rivals Tottenham Hotspur in Saturday's north London derby.

He said it was important that "we have a good game tomorrow and focus on what is important for him (Dein) and that is for us to beat Tottenham."

Kroenke raises Arsenal stake

Meanwhile, Kroenke raised his stake in the club to 12.2 percent on Friday, one day after the board said they would not sell their 45.45 percent for at least a year.

Kroenke upped his stake by almost one percent after buying another 577 shares.

Arsenal are now braced for a possible takeover battle after a boardroom split prompted the departure of Dein, the man credited with much of the club's success over the past decade.

Dein has a 14.5 percent stake in Arsenal and media speculation has been building that he and Kroenke are planning to mount a takeover.

Shares in Arsenal, worth around £120 in the early 1990s, topped £7,000 ($14,030) for the first time on Friday on the back of Kroenke's interest.

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