Arsene Wenger's future will not be decided by the result of the FA Cup final.

Arsenal now fully expect Wenger to stay and sign a new two-year contract regardless of the result at Wembley.

The announcement could come as early as next week with the club fully committed to him staying with a behind-the-scenes reshuffle.

Arsenal will hold a board meeting next week which is expected to ratify the decision and even a bad result against Chelsea at Wembley will not change the mindset.

It comes down to Wenger’s future not being decided on the result of 90 minutes after 20 years in charge of the club.

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Chelsea are red-hot favourites, Arsenal underdogs and are missing captain Laurent Koscielny and have missed out on the Champions League, having finished fifth.

But there is still a view that Wenger has been remarkably loyal, consistent and they believe that with the right changes at the club they can challenge again.

The new set-up would see a role overseeing contracts, logistics and even pooling together medical information to streamline support for Wenger, but it is highly unlikely to be a high-profile appointment and would not be a director of football.

There could also be some changes in the coaching staff even though Wenger is fiercely loyal to his men just as he has been outspoken against a director of football.

Wenger keeps an eye on training ahead of the FA Cup final (
Image:
Arsenal FC via Getty)
The Gunners face a defensive crisis (
Image:
Stuart MacFarlane)

But there appears to have been a compromise and although there has been a two year contract on table since October there is now a real move to get it sorted and signed.

It comes at a time with majority shareholder, US tycoon Stan Kroenke, reaffirming his position that he is at the club for the long term and to win trophies after rebuffing a big offer Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov.

Missing out on the Champions League for the first time in nearly 20 years will not have the same impact financially as in recent seasons when they were under pressure to pay for the Emirates stadium.

It is believed Arsenal would budget for around a £20m drop from missing out on the Champions League because of lost revenue and prize money which would be offset against not playing the players a top four bonus.

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