• Arsenal manager must choose whether to leave or sign new contract • Alexis Sánchez expected to miss Sutton match after flying from Heathrow

Arsène Wenger has said his future will probably be decided in the spring as he ponders whether to take up the offer of a contract extension or leave Arsenal at the end of the season.

Wenger was speaking to the German TV station ZDF before Arsenal’s 5-1 Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich on Wednesday, but details of the interview emerged only on Thursday.

Asked when he would decide whether to continue, he said: “March, April probably.”

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The 67-year-old was stunned almost into silence after Wednesday’s game, answering only three questions in a press conference that lasted under three minutes. The manager is due to speak publicly again on Friday.

Arsenal’s next match is in the FA Cup at non-league Sutton United on Monday. Alexis Sánchez is expected to miss that game after flying out from Heathrow airport on Thursday. It is understood the player has been given leave, though the club declined to comment.

The National League club’s manager, Paul Doswell, feels Wenger is being unfairly criticised but does not feel sorry for his counterpart.

“Do I feel sympathy for him? No,” said Doswell, who watched Wednesday night’s Champions League match at home with his wife and son. “He is well schooled, and he has been in the job for 20 years. José Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Wenger … I don’t feel sorry for them at all because they are in the mad world that is football.”

Doswell will present Wenger with a £300 bottle of red wine, hand-picked by his brother. “Wenger is getting criticised – and I think wrongly – that he doesn’t have enough leaders in the dressing room, but he has still managed to qualify for the Champions League for the last 15 years,” Doswell said.

“I would rather be in Arsenal’s position than Manchester United’s, who are playing in the Europa League. It is an open forum to criticise Arsenal and Arsène Wenger, but from our perspective we are just over the moon that they are coming here.”