• Arsenal manager says discussions will be held in the summer • Sánchez’s and Özil’s deals run out at the end of next season

Arsène Wenger has said contract negotiations with Alexis Sánchez and Mesut Özil have been put on hold until the summer. The pair have just over a year remaining on their deals at Arsenal.

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“At the moment we have not got an agreement,” Wenger told beIN Sports when asked about Sánchez’s future. “We have decided to focus on the end of the season and talk about it in the summer. It is the same situation with Özil because once you don’t find an agreement and it [the negotiation] lasts, it is not good so it is better you get it out and sit down in the summer.”

Sánchez is expected to leave in the summer, having grown increasingly frustrated at the club. Wenger has said in the past he would rather let both players run down their contracts and go for free in 2018 than sell them before next season.

Wenger is yet to reveal whether he intends to sign a two-year contract which is on the table but it is understood he is determined to stay on.

The manager, asked about his own future, said: “My news is that I have no news for you … We suffer a lot at the moment but when you take a little distance and put into perspective, we are two games behind and in the semi-final of the Cup to prepare against Manchester City so our season will be decided on how well we respond now to the difficult period we have had.”

Wenger has split the Arsenal fanbase, with two protests being held before recent matches and two planes flown over the Hawthorns, where Arsenal lost to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, carrying conflicting messages – one of support and one against any new deal being signed.

“My job is to make 100% of people happy,” Wenger said. “If you look at where the club was when I arrived and where it is today, I think I’m quite proud of what I did for the club.

“After that we live in a period where people are very demanding, I can understand that but I know as well that. I have guided this club through very difficult periods with very, very, very limited resources and I managed always to get the best out of the team and that is what I will do as long as I’m at Arsenal football club.

“You can basically say if you don’t win the championship it is not a successful season, I understand that but take a club like Liverpool, they have never won the Premier League and they are a big club.”