Wenger’s new Arsenal deal is worth £6m a year

The pressure on Arsene Wenger to achieve something with his Arsenal youngsters this season will only have been increased after details of his massive new contract with the Gunners were leaked.

The Frenchman's freshly-signed three-year deal included a 20 per cent pay-rise and is said to be worth £6m a year. It also makes him, rather than any of his players, the best paid person at the Emirates Stadium - an unusual situation at a Premier League club.

He is now earning as much as England boss Fabio Capello, and only Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti earns more, according to Goal.com.

During his time at Arsenal Wenger has steadfastly refused to dismantle the club's wage structure and, until now, the club's highest earner was Cesc Fabregas, who is reported to be on £110,000 a week, or £5.7m a year.

Wenger, whose previous deal was worth £5m a year, has now leapfrogged him.

Talking about Arsenal's wage structure earlier this year Wenger said: "We keep our policy always. We manage within our resources and we will not over-pay the players, we cannot."

But Arsenal have obviously found the money from somewhere to ensure that Wenger stays with the club and his deal, which was signed earlier this month and lasts until 2014, makes him one of the higest paid coaches in football.

Ancelotti's deal with Chelsea is said to be worth £6.5m-a-year and Capello gets a £6m annual salary with the FA. However, he is still a little way behind Jose Mourinho. The 'Special One', who won the treble with Inter Milan last season, jumped ship to join Real Madrid in the summer and they are said to be paying him £8.5m.

There were concerns around the Emirates over Wenger's future when he indicated that he had reached a 'crossroads' in his career and would have to leave in the summer if he was going to take on other challenges. But in the end he was persuaded to stay and Goal.com claims there were no dissenting voices on the Arsenal board when the lucrative new contract was proposed.

However, having made Wenger one of the best paid coaches in world football the Gunners must now expect to see results on the pitch after five seasons without a trophy.

Wenger already has a fortune of £17m and came sixth in this year's Sunday Times rich list of football managers. Top of the tree was Capello, who is said to be worth £34m, while Wenger's old adversary Sir Alex Ferguson was also some way ahead of him with £24m in the bank. ·