Arsenal legend Emmanuel Petit hints Arsene Wenger will splash the cash after sealing new contract

The former midfielder has also told Wenger to push his players harder

Emmanuel Petit and Arsene Wenger spoke recently (Getty)

Emmanuel Petit has urged Arsene Wenger to push his players harder and spend more money as he takes Arsenal into his new two-year contract, with Petit also suggesting Wenger may break the club's wage structure this summer.

It is 17 years since Petit left Wenger for FC Barcelona but Wenger is in charge after signing yet another contract on Wednesday morning. Although Arsenal won the FA Cup on Saturday, Petit said that they had underperformed in recent years, and that accordingly expectations were not as high as they used to be. So he encouraged his former boss to "change his management" to take the club forward for the next two years.

While Wenger has been under intense public and media pressure this season, Petit said that the players had got off lightly and that Wenger should make sure they are always working as hard as they did in the cup final.

"Winning the FA Cup was important but Arsene needs to be bring more talent in to the club for next season and he must also change his management," Petit said. "I think he should put more pressure on his players all the time. When I watched the FA Cup Final, I was surprised – in a good way – the level of intensity on the pitch from the Arsenal players. The pressure on the manager has been very high this season, but most of the players must look at themselves in the mirror and ask ‘did I do everything I could this year in every game I played in?’ The answer is very clear for me – ‘no I didn’t’."


 Former Arsenal and Frane midfielder Emmanuel Petit 
 (Getty)

Petit won the double in his first season in England but Arsenal have not won the Premier League title for 13 years, a disappointing record that Petit said had depressed expectations at the Emirates.

"For me, Arsenal winning the FA Cup was very important for the manager, players and fans," Petit said. "They have now won three FA Cups in the past four seasons but is this the expectation when you sign for Arsenal as a player? No, it is not if I’m being honest. The expectation when you sign for Arsenal is very high – it’s not the same as a club like Real Madrid. At Real Madrid, you have to win trophies all the time. With Arsenal, this is not the case now. In the past, it was like this - when you signed for Arsenal you always knew before you signed that there was an expectation to win trophies at the end of the season."

Arsenal are facing another summer of transition with the futures of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez in doubt and Petit has told the club they must spend more money and back Wenger in the transfer market. Petit has told Wenger that much himself and suspected that Arsenal will invest heavily when the window opens.

"I asked Arsene a simple question about two months ago," Petit recalled. "'How can you bring in talented players with a winning mentality, who are difficult to buy on the transfer market?’ The fact that Arsenal doesn’t win trophies for ages, doesn’t want to change their wages policy, doesn’t want to put more money on the table for players. They’ve done it with Shkodran Mustafi and Mezut Ozil, but I think they need to be more intelligent in the transfer market."

"Arsene looked at me and said: ‘This is a very intelligent question. I know the answer but I won’t give you the answer right now.’ I’m pretty sure he will break the wages policy at the club and put big money on the table to bring in big big players for the team next season."

Emmanuel Petit was speaking to Mastercard – official UEFA Champions League sponsor – to support the release of their ‘12th man’ report, which measured the passion of European football fans.