Wenger rules out selecting successor

The Gunners boss, 64, has yet to sign the offer of a new contract extension past the end of the season, but having just completed 1,000 matches in charge is expected to stay on at the Emirates Stadium.

The Arsenal board is said to be acutely aware of the difficulties it could face when eventually having to replace the Frenchman, with the on-going issues for Manchester United manager David Moyes after following in the footsteps of Alex Ferguson all too obvious.

Wenger, though, stressed he would not be keen to oversee the recruitment process when the time comes.

“I always said, and you can check that, everybody has his job (at the club). My job is to do well for the team, not to do anything else,” he said.

Asked if he would be choosing his successor, Wenger insisted: “No.”

Arsenal remain relaxed about the on-going saga over Wenger’s future, comfortable he will commit for next season, with plans already in place for a July friendly in New York.

It is a situation Wenger also appears completely comfortable with — although again he indicated he alone would be the final judge on whether he felt he could take the team on for another cycle.

“My word is my word,” said Wenger. Asked if that meant he would definitely be staying on next season, he added: “Yes — unless I decide otherwise.

“(I am) not going anywhere, don’t worry for that, but I want to have a feeling that I have done the maximum for the club.”

Despite falling behind in the Premier League title race ahead of today’s showdown with Manchester City, Arsenal are in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, which represents a real chance to end their nine-year trophy drought.

Wenger suggested he would reflect on the merits of any success once the final whistle for the 2013/14 campaign is blown.

“Let’s first see when the season is over,” he said.

“If you look back for one year, would you have done something different? If you say to me ‘no’, I say ‘this guy is a complete lunatic’.

“It is not only linked with the result. It is linked with the situations you have dealt with — have you done well or not?

“Do you ask me ‘have I made zero mistakes in the last year?’ I am not stupid enough to say ‘yes’.”

Wenger, meanwhile, has hit back at criticism of his team from former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes .

Following the Gunners’ 2-2 draw against Swansea on Tuesday night, in which midfielder Mathieu Flamini netted a bizarre last-minute own goal, Scholes had claimed Arsenal were “a million miles away” from challenging for the Premier League title.

He added that the Gunners had “midfield players with no discipline” and “there are no leaders”, as well as questioning the development of Jack Wilshere. The comments left Wenger unimpressed.

“Everybody has opinions, people who have managed zero games have opinions and we have to accept that,” Wenger said.

“If six points (from the top of the league) is a million miles away, then I don’t know what the translation from a mile into a point is.”

The Gunners boss also took exception to Scholes’ claim Wilshere, 22, has “not improved since he was 17”.

Wenger said: “You cannot say that. Jack Wilshere is an exceptional player who has been handicapped by many injuries.

“Once Jack is back and consistently on the pitch, he will prove everybody wrong about that because he is an exceptional player.”

A win this weekend would see Arsenal move level on 66 points with City, who thumped Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford in midweek and have two matches in hand on all their championship rivals.

“We have not given up (on the title), believe me and we can show that tomorrow. It is our attitude that will decide that,” Wenger said. “Champions keep going when everybody else would give up. We have an opportunity to show that we have that mentality.”

Beating City would boost Arsenal’s flagging title hopes, and also put some distance back between themselves and fifth-placed Everton, who are six points behind and with a match in hand ahead of their showdown at Goodison Park next weekend.

“If people say that Everton can catch us, that means we can catch the teams above us as well because they play against each other,” said Wenger.

Wenger also rejected reports suggesting City were ready to offer Arsenal full-back Bacary Sagna a lucrative deal when his contract expires in the summer, branding such a move “illegal”, and remains hopeful the 31-year-old France international will stay on at the Emirates Stadium.