Ivan Gazidis sent an email to Arsenal staff following Wenger’s new contract.

• Gazidis thanks staff for work during difficult period
• Reassures people that Wenger remains the best man for job
• Says full review of on and off pitch activities has been conducted

In an email revealed by the Daily Mail, Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis acknowledged the speculation around Wenger’s future.

“I am writing to you to let you know that we’ve agreed a two-year extension to Arsene Wenger’s contract as our manager. Know there has been significant speculation around this over the past 24 hours but it is important we do things in the right way which is why we have not commented until now,” it read.

He assured staff that the decision was made with “best long-term interests of the club” in mind.

“We are clear that Arsene is the best person to help fulfil our ambition to win the Premier League and other major trophies in Europe,” he said.

Echoing his official statement when Wenger’s new contract was confirmed, Gazidis said that he and Wenger had conducted a review of what has gone wrong on and off the pitch.

“Arsene and I have conducted a full review of our on and off pitch activities to identify areas for improvement to build a sustained title challenge. We will be working on this during what will be a busy summer and look forward to another exciting season starting in August.”

Wenger, Gazidis and Stan Kroenke were unanimous in their intent to turn Arsenal into a title challenging team. What conclusions Wenger and Gazidis reached after their review were not revealed to the public.

Gazidis had been pushing for a Director of Football and a restructuring of the club off the pitch, but faced opposition from Wenger.

We can only assume that some form of compromise was reached between the two of them.

Gazidis went on to acknowledge the uncertain and difficult period while Wenger’s future was being decided and thanked staff for their work.