Wenger insists he is not retiring

Arsene Wenger’s long term future has been subject to much speculation over the past few weeks and if indeed the Frenchman leaves the Emirates Stadium, many feel that he will end up retiring from football management.

However, Wenger has gone on to quash reports that he will retire next summer and insisted that his interest in football has not faded away despite his advancing years.

The 67-year-old said, “I will not retire. Retiring is for young people. For old people retirement is dying. I still watch every football game. I find it interesting.

“Of course I’m as hungry. I carry a bit more pressure on my shoulders than 20 years ago but the hunger is exactly the same. When you see what the club was and what it is today – when I arrived we were seven people [members of staff], we are 700 today.

“I hate defeat. I can understand the fans that are unhappy with every defeat but the only way to have victory is to stick together with the fans and give absolutely everything until the end of the season, that’s all we can do.”

Arsenal join the race to sign James Rodriguez

James Rodriguez has struggled for regular first team football since making a move to Real Madrid back in 2014 and it is now widely expected that the Colombian superstar will be leaving the Santiago Bernabeu at the end of the current campaign.

The Premier League has been seen as a possible destination for Rodriguez, with the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool being mentioned as interested parties and now the Mirror have stated that even Arsenal have joined in the race to sign the £50million-rated attacker.

Potential lineup against Manchester City

Arsenal welcome Manchester City the Emirates Stadium on Sunday and it would not be an exaggeration to state that the match is a must win for the Gunners in their top four aspirations.

Therefore, manager Arsene Wenger will need to get his team selection spot on for the clash and it is expected that superstars Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez will be handed starts on the day despite their participation in international clashes over the past week.

In goal David Ospina should start and he will be protected by a backline consisting of Hector Bellerin, Laurent Koscielny, Shkodran Mustafi and Nacho Monreal.

The midfield lineup on the day will be interesting to see and the trio of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey is the most likely combination. Danny Welbeck might just get the nod the start in attack at the expense of Olivier Giroud.