Wenger confident on new Arsenal deal

The 64-year-old will take charge of the Gunners for his 1,000th game at Chelsea on Saturday, but as yet there has been no confirmation Wenger will be staying on past the end of the season.

However, Wenger insists he is not considering moving on and that the formalities of a new deal will be announced soon.

Asked if he would still be at Arsenal after 1,010 matches, Wenger replied: "I think so, yes.

"I want to do well, and the expectation level and the impatience is there.

"My commitment is full. I do not want to look somewhere else. I want to stay here. There shouldn't be any uncertainty at all.

"My desire is to stay."

Wenger maintained he did not want speculation over his contract saga to deflect attention from Arsenal's run-in.

"It will be done soon, but I want now to focus on the end of the season," said Wenger, whose side could close the gap on leaders Chelsea to just a point and are through to the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

Wenger arrived as an unheralded coach in late September 1996, and soon moved to alter the psyche of the club.

He recalled: "I changed a few habits [of the players], which isn't easy in a team where the average age is 30 years.

"At the first match the players were chanting 'we want our Mars bars'. Then, at half-time I asked my physio Gary Lewin: 'Nobody is talking, what's wrong with them?' and he replied: 'They are hungry'.

"I hadn't given them their chocolate before the game. It was funny."

Wenger played an integral role in Arsenal's move to their new 60,000-seater home at Ashburton Grove, but one which has yet to see any new trophies delivered.

The Gunners boss accepts the north London club were always set for a tough period to maintain their competitiveness, which was made more difficult given the sudden seemingly limitless funds of their rivals.

"We made that (stadium) decision knowing that we could suffer a bit financially, but what was happening at the same time as that decision was that Chelsea and then Manchester City made huge investments, so we had the double effect," Wenger said.

"We were not only competing with the clubs who were at our level, but suddenly two other clubs came in. We did not expect that at that time."

Wenger, though, rejects the notion Arsenal have stood still since their move from Highbury.

"In 2006, we were in the Champions League final. Nobody speaks about it now, but it is still an achievement," the Gunners boss said.

"It is not a trophy, but we did without conceding a goal in 10 European games and we only lost in the last 13 minutes of the Champions League. Can you say you have failed that season? I don't think so.

"We beat Real Madrid (in the second round) with Zidane and Beckham and all those players, on top of that we managed to stay in the top four (of the Premier League) that season, but nobody speaks about it. It is like we did nothing that season at all.

"Why? Because at the end of the season we don't parade with a trophy.

"If we had won the League Cup that season people would have said 'they won the League Cup in 2006', but what is that compared to going into the Champions League final without losing a game?

"You have to take a bit of distance with that and assess what is difficult and what is less difficult.

"I know trophies are important, but if you don't have a trophy it doesn't mean nothing happened in the season and you have been disastrous - in a season where you win trophies, you still have bad games."