Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood is confident that Arsene Wenger will resist the advances of Real Madrid and remain at the Emirates.
Wenger has been heavily linked with a move to Real in the summer, with presidential candidate Florentino Perez reportedly eager to make the Frenchman the club’s next coach.
The Gunners boss sparked renewed speculation over his future at the weekend after admitting Perez’s project would be interesting for any coach.
Wenger was also believed to have been angered by the criticism he received at a shareholders’ meeting last week following a fourth successive season without silverware.
Hill-Wood has slammed the conduct of some of those at the meeting, but is confident it will not affect Wenger’s future at Emirates Stadium.
“I am not concerned about it,” said Hill-Wood in the Daily Star. “Arsene is here and under contract (until 2011), and I am sure that is how it is going to remain.
“I think he is a big enough man to accept that a few people are not prepared to be reasonable.
“I think we all have to accept criticism, but you expect it to be reasonably constructive, rather than destructive.”
Discussing last week’s shareholders meeting, Hill-Wood admitted he was disappointed by some of the comments aimed at Wenger.
He added: “Frankly, some of the questions were quite disgraceful.
“There you have the most successful manager in our history and two or three of the shareholders made the most negative and somewhat hostile and sarcastic comments, which I think were completely out of order.
“I was very upset by the questions, I have to say. We, and he, kindly agreed to have this meeting and whether we have another one is a moot point.
“Arsene was very diplomatic and honest in his answers and deserves great credit for that. But I wouldn’t have been anything like as polite if they had asked me.”
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