It’s strange, but Arsenal’s defeat to Bayern Munich appeared to have an even greater effect on Arsene Wenger than the embarrassment against Blackburn Rovers did.

The Frenchmen, who kept his players inside for a 50-minute hairdryer on Saturday, sat alone in the dressing room for half an hour before facing the press after the 3-1 home reverse in the Champions League.

He looked haunted in the ensuing conference, and spoke with little conviction. It was as though he’d come to a realisation: Arsenal simply cannot compete with Europe’s finest at the moment.

The defeat to Blackburn could be chalked up as a bad day, or another example of his side’s lack of fight despite Wenger’s plain anger with their meek surrender, but this was a damning indictment of their lack of quality.

Wenger’s ability to produce great sides from little can only stretch so far, and it is at breaking point after another summer of board interference and forced rebuilding.

Demands

It is perhaps this realisation that has led to his stance on new contract negotiations. Arsenal are offering a 2-year extension, a decision that will anger many, but they will only succeed if Wenger has his demands met.

For a start, the meagre transfer budgets of previous summers, with as little as £10 million given out, and any more to be paid for by player sales, will be altered.

Any Emirates sponsorship money must be made available, as well as a possible opening of the suspicious cash mountain stockpiled by Stan Kroenke, that even Wenger suspects is being saved for future removal from the club.

The manager and the majority shareholder have a difficult relationship, as is evident by the veiled complaints Wenger has made, such as his comments as to how Arsenal “cannot be called a big club” if both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri were permitted to leave the club. Both were, with the board intervening to accept a bid for Nasri. Even as recently as when both sat in the directors box for the Schalke defeat in October, the enmity could be seen.

It is for this reason that Wenger is demanding a new David Dein-type figure at Arsenal to help with transfers and general footballing matters. He feels he is being asked to do too much in terms of contracts and completing deals and wants help. There are a range of possible candidates, including Bob Wilson.

Essentially, in a planned board reshuffle, Wenger wants a football man, and an Arsenal man. Not too much to ask, you’d think, considering what the manager has given to the board for the last eight years. If he doesn’t get what he wants, PSG are willing to give Arsene all this and more, as they remove Carlo Ancelotti, who could be Madrid-bound. And Arsenal could well suffer more than you’d imagine.

Why bother?

Some will argue Wenger shouldn’t even be offered an extension. He’s had enough time, and with confidence at an all-time low, he has fewer supporters by the day. However; it must be remembered that the personnel he can rely on these days are nothing compared to days of yore.

That isn’t his fault.

With the money available to him, he must take risks. Some players are Podolski and Cazorla, others are Gervinho. With authorisation to shop in a higher bracket, and with help to push deals forward, the football Wenger wants his players to play could be better accomplished. The defining concept behind Wengerball is that players express themselves. Poorer players express themselves more poorly.

But is Wenger too stubborn to pay through the nose for players? That much remains to be seen, and will be in the next transfer window. It is unlikely he will leave this summer, he does not break contracts.

These are dark times for Arsene Wenger, and the future is clouded. It could either end in more misery, or delight. Regardless of your thoughts on the man, we must hope it’s the latter. After all, it’s what’s best for Arsenal that’s important.

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