Arsenal Chairman Sir Chips Keswick Comments on Arsene Wenger's Future

Arsenal chairman Sir Chips Keswick has said that manager Arsene Wenger's future at the club will be a mutual decision at the end of the season.

Per the Gunners' official website, Keswick said:

"

We are fully aware of the attention currently focused on the club and understand the debate. We respect that fans are entitled to their different individual opinions but we will always run this great football club with its best long-term interests at heart.

Arsene has a contract until the end of the season. Any decisions will be made by us mutually and communicated at the right time in the right way.

"

Calls for the Frenchman to leave the club have increased in recent weeks, with the Gunners suffering two humiliating 5-1 defeats at the hands of Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League and slipping to fifth place in the Premier League following a 3-1 defeat at Liverpool.

The Sun's Neil Ashton captured some of the protests on Tuesday:

Bleacher Report UK's James McNicholas was unsure as to the motive behind the statement, but The Mirror's John Cross believed it was a shrewd move:

With Wenger's contract expiring at the end of the campaign, his future has been the subject of much speculation in recent months, and he has been frequently questioned on his desire to stay.

It was no different in his press conference on Thursday following the disastrous result against Bayern, and Wenger confirmed he would take into account what Arsenal supporters want when deciding on his future, per ESPN FC's Mattias Karen:

The Gunners face a difficult battle to finish in the top four this season and have crashed out of Europe at the last-16 stage for seven successive years.

It's clear a significant section of the Emirates Stadium faithful want to see a new manager in charge after witnessing a similar cycle of failure repeat itself once again, so Wenger could opt to leave this summer.

Equally, the 67-year-old would likely prefer to end his 21-year tenure on a high.

That could come in the form of the FA Cup—Arsenal play Lincoln City on Saturday for a place in the semi-finals—but he may also choose to sign a new deal in the hope of making an improvement both domestically and in Europe next season.

What's clear from both Wenger and the club is that the decision will not be made before the end of this season.