Arsenal fans questioned Arsene Wenger’s ideas as the Premier League title push fizzled out but the trust between the Frenchman and the board never wavered.

Wenger will still be in charge next season and he will be backed wholeheartedly in the transfer market this summer. It is very much a case of ‘In Arsene we trust’. He will maintain control over recruitment and, according to Lord Harris of Peckham, the director, be fully supported by the board whoever he attempts to sign.

Supporters have grown frustrated at Wenger’s reluctance to spend big. The £42million arrival of Mesut Ozil last summer was an early sign that Wenger’s ideas may be changing; that promising youth alone may not be enough to challenge for silverware. But the board refuse to dictate Wenger’s way of operating and they will continue to leave the 64-year-old to his own devices.

“He knows what he wants, he knows how good the team are and knows what he’s got coming up in the reserves,” said Lord Harris. “I don’t think it’s up to us. It’s really up to him. We want to win the Premier League and Champions League. If we buy two or three players then I think we can. We don’t want to be second, we don’t want to be third and we don’t want to be fourth.

“It is obvious that we need a centre forward, a big midfielder and, if Bacary Sagna goes, a good right-back. We’ll support Arsene with the players he wants to buy. He’s always been encouraged to spend. With the exception of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Gareth Bale, we could buy most players. The stadium debt is at a very manageable level and there is a lot of money in the bank.”

If Wenger had been more bullish in the transfer market last summer, Arsenal may have been able to sustain their title push. Instead, they dropped off the pace, finishing seven points behind eventual winners Manchester City. Players became fatigued and a lack of depth was exposed. Injuries, according to Lord Harris, cost Arsenal the title.

“We were very close in the League,” he said. “When you get three of your best players — Aaron Ramsey, Theo Walcott and Laurent Koscielny — injured in one week, then it’s a lot to ask. We had too many injuries in the middle of the season, otherwise we’d have won the championship.”

Now Wenger must address that lack of depth. If he sees out his imminent contract renewal, he will remain in charge for at least another three years. Speculation over his position intensified during the season but, according to Lord Harris, Wenger told the board in August that he would sign a new deal.

“He was always staying,” said Lord Harris. “There was never any doubt. He gave us his word back in the autumn, just after the season started. It was just a case of sorting it out. It was the Press making all the problems.”

Eventually replacing Wenger will be one of the board’s most difficult challenges. The shambolic handover from Sir Alex Ferguson to David Moyes at Manchester United is a blueprint of how not to deliver the transition and the Arsenal board must take note.

But Ivan Gazidis and his directors believe that — even at 67 — Wenger has the potential to continue beyond his new contract. Lord Harris said: “If he wins the League and the Cup and the Champions League in the next three years, then I’m sure he will stay. Three years is a long time in football so let’s see what happens. It’s very hard to follow someone like Ferguson and I’m sure it will be very hard to follow Arsene. They [United] had a lot of old players coming to the end of their careers. We’ve got to make sure the handover is good and we’ve got to plan it.”

Arsenal are unlikely to suffer from a raft of players with one eye on retirement. Wenger is renowned for developing youth and his graduates have been as good as any across Europe.

But an over-reliance on youngsters has seen the club overtaken by the mega-bucks of Manchester City and Chelsea. Lord Harris, however, cites Yaya Toure’s bizarre birthday cake row at City as a reason why there is more to a club than just riches.

“It’s not always about money; it’s about the manager, a good team and team spirit,” said Lord Harris. “It was in the paper that one of the top players at City wants to go because he doesn’t feel it’s a happy club. If he’s not happy after winning the championship, then what will make him happy?

“Chelsea won nothing this season and we won something. It might sound mad but 18 years in succession qualifying for the Champions League is not a bad record. It would be nice if we won it a couple of times but 18 times is big money — that’s £30m every time we qualify.

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“We live within our budgets, we play within our budgets and we try to win within our budgets. We’ve got the money to spend if we want to. We’re not going to throw money about to please the fans just for one season. We want to please the fans but we’ve got to remain financially sound.”