Five key problems Arsene Wenger must address at Arsenal after agreeing new two-year deal

 After months of speculation, Arsene Wenger is set to put pen to paper on a new deal and remain at Arsenal for another two years.

Wenger sat down with the board on Tuesday after the dust settled on the FA Cup final win over Chelsea to discuss the direction of the club.

Despite the trophy win, it has been a torrid campaign for the Gunners, who dropped out of the top four for the first time since the Frenchman took the reigns in 1996.

But Wenger has refused to give up on his 21-year stint in charge - and fully believes that he is the man to guide the Gunners back to former glories.

So, what does he need to do to get them there?

Here is what we believe should be at the top of his to-do list...


1. Sort out Sanchez and Ozil's contracts

The saga surrounding the contracts of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil has been going on just as long as Wenger's.

Now Wenger's future is confirmed, Arsenal have to focus on getting their two prize assets nailed down for the foreseeable future.

Both men have just one year left to run of their current deals and given how long the discussions have dragged on, both are set to be offered wages far bigger than what Arsenal would have liked.

The current market does suggest, however, that Sanchez and Ozil are worth more than the initial £180,000-a-week that Arsenal had offered them.

Selling them would only ruffle feathers more, given that they will have to be sold at a cut-price rate as their contracts wind down.

Without Champions League football to attract new talent, Wenger has to push Arsenal to break the bank and ensure that they keep the men who will guide them back to European football's top table.


2. Invest in the squad this summer

Poor recruitment has been something of a theme for Arsenal in recent years.

Yes, they sign good players, but when was the last time they secured a truly outstanding talent?

If Arsenal are going to compete at the top of the Premier League table, they need to go some way to try and match the riches being spent by their rivals.

Manchester City will have spent nearly £100m by the end of this week and Manchester United will spend similar on Antoine Griezmann alone - so Wenger needs a summer recruitment drive to keep pace.

The inability to offer Champions League football is a big problem for them - but United proved with the signing of Paul Pogba last summer that it is doable.

Wenger desperately needs to push for new arrivals just to prevent Arsenal from dropping even further behind their rivals.



3. Resolve the director of football situation

Wenger has made it categorically clear that he does not want a director of football. He even claimed that he did not know what the role involved.

So a compromise is going to have to be found for him to move forward with taking Arsenal back to the top of the Premier League.

Arsenal's board want to bring in a new face to oversee some of the lesser operations at the club, which Wenger has got a stranglehold over at the moment.

That role will likely include contracts talks, pooling together medical information to logistics like first team travel.

The new role would ease Wenger's workload and help him delegate some of the tasks at the club.

He might not like it necessarily, but it seems to be the way forward for Arsenal.



4. Get set for the Europa League

Is the Europa League a desirable competition or just a pain in the backside?

Wenger needs to work out early on how he wants to approach the competition next season.

Manchester United have shown how playing in the Europa League can be a positive thing for a Premier League team if the right balance is found.

Jose Mourinho rotated his squad nicely and treated the Europa League with the respect that it deserves - and Wenger should approach the competition the same way to get the most out of it.

It could also prove the perfect breeding ground for the likes of Jeff Reine-Adelaide and Ainsley Maitland-Niles - if they are played alongside more experienced stooges.

And with competition for the top four as fierce as ever, Arsenal might as well keep the Europa League as a viable alternative to returning to the Champions League.



5. Show some love to the captain's armband

If his usage of Per Mertesacker during last season is anything to go by, Arsenal need to find themselves a new leader.

Mertesacker was excellent during the FA Cup final but it is clear to see that Wenger prefers Laurent Koscielny, Shkodran Mustafi and Rob Holding in the Arsenal back line.

Club captain Mertesacker played just the very last 127 minutes of the season.