Wenger explains Real snub

Wenger: Committed to Arsenal

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Former Real Madrid target Arsene Wenger has revealed he chose to remain at Arsenal in order to continue his Gunners project until the 'ultimate end'.

The French coach was strongly linked with a move to the Santiago Bernabeu earlier this summer as part of president Florentino Perez's plans to overhaul the club.

However, Wenger, who took over in North London in 1996, stressed his commitment to Arsenal, where he has built a youthful and developing side.

Wenger respects Real's agenda to create a 'spectacle of football' but warned that too many additions during the transfer window could have an adverse effect.

Career

He said in the Daily Mirror: "What Real want to do is produce what I would call a spectacle of football, a spectacular team.

"But I believe that when it comes to creating a team and a squad there is another dimension that exists, and that is my way of thinking.

"I want to have success by building a team with a style, with a know-how, with a culture of play specific to the club and its fans and with young people.

"That is what I have chosen in my career and want to ensure I continue here at Arsenal.

Shocking

"I am in a construction project with a young team, but my intention is to take that project to the ultimate end. For me, pleasure comes from watching those players showing the football I like to see played.

"The sums we are talking about with Real can appear shocking.

"But they are the fruit of a calculation carried out by the investors in the club.

"I believe it is necessary to disregard moral judgement and to simply ask whether the operation will be profitable. In my opinion, to recruit more than three players in a transfer window, as Real plan, is taking a technical risk.

"You are entering a zone of uncertainty and if that kicks back at you, it can hurt."