There is an Arsenal supporters' banner that reads, simply, "Arsene Knows." It has been around for a while and is supposed to relate to his wisdom in all football-related matters, but with uncertainty once again swirling around his future following the FA Cup final victory over Chelsea, a win that secured his seventh FA Cup, "Arsene Knows" seems wholly appropriate as he seems to be quite happily keeping everyone guessing for just a while longer.
Nobody else seems to know, so surely Arsene knows? Well, maybe he doesn't. He doesn't appear to, anyway.
So will he stay or will he go? Don't ask majority shareholder Stan Kroenke, chief executive Ivan Gazidis or any of Wenger's players, because they appear to be as much in the dark as those Arsenal supporters who are split right down the middle of the argument. There's no consensus as to whether he should sign a new contract or walk away with his head held high after engineering a record 13th FA Cup triumph for his club.
Wenger was smiling at the end of the best FA Cup final in recent years. He looked happy and content, but one shouldn't fall into the trap of reading his emotions. Some will say they reflect a satisfaction at ending his 21-year reign with a trophy and a defiant riposte to his critics; others will suggest that his upbeat mood was because this win gives him the platform and mandate to go on for two more years.
Arsene knows what he wants, but he doesn't know if he will get it. Not yet, anyway.
"We have a board meeting on Tuesday," Wenger said moments after Aaron Ramsey's goal sealed a 2-1 victory at Wembley. "And on Wednesday or Thursday, it [his future] will be clearer." So there you have it. Just a few more days and the guessing game will be over.
The whole saga now resembles an Arsenal attack on goal: lots of sideways movement and shifting momentum when a direct shot, or a swift announcement, is what everyone is crying out for.
Really, Arsenal and Wenger have left it all far too late now for the manager to leave this summer. Unless both parties have been able to keep it secret for weeks, while mounting a cloak-and-dagger operation to identify and recruit a suitable successor at the same time, then Wenger leaving this week would plunge Arsenal into massive uncertainty and chaos -- precisely when they need certainty and stability after failing to qualify for the Champions League.
So what will he do? When asked in the postmatch news conference whether this game was the perfect way to bow out, his answer hinted at staying, but also that he needs the board to believe he is the man to lead the club forward.
"It would be a bit ridiculous that 20 years hangs on one game," he said. "There is no perfect way [to go]. I just want to do well for the club, after that it is down to the board members if I am the right man to lead the club, and, for me, if I am the right man.
"I believe [I am the right man] because you cannot make 35 years at the top level unless you believe you are right man for the job."
But when pushed whether he knows what will happen this week, his reply was to the point. "No," Wenger said. "We are adults and must accept what will happen."
At times, it requires a code breaker to cut through the spin and blow away the smoke that surrounds the words of football managers, particularly where Wenger's future is concerned. There is a perception that Wenger wants to stay, even at 67 years old, but that he needs to be convinced that the board want him to do so and, crucially, that he will be left to manage as he sees fit -- something he has done since arriving at the club in 1996.
Wenger is uneasy about the prospect of Arsenal appointing a director of football, but the club, quite sensibly, wants to prepare for a future when Wenger will no longer be at the helm. So a bridge toward that, with a director of football being appointed to ease the burden on the manager, is their favoured approach.
Wenger has conceded in the past that he can be stubborn and he is unlikely to change now. But there are issues to be resolved, and it really could go either way this week. Neither Wenger nor the board are likely to come out of Tuesday's meeting by getting everything that they want, but if compromise is in the air, the status quo is likely to remain as it is.
Yet whichever way the dice rolls, Wenger won more than the FA Cup by defeating Chelsea. He either gave himself the perfect send-off or he laid the groundwork for an assault on more coveted trophies next season. And at the end of the day, silverware is not to be dismissed lightly. Only Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho have collected more (or higher profile) trophies this season. Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino would all love to be drinking champagne out of the FA Cup tonight, but only Wenger can enjoy that privilege.
And he is enjoying it for the seventh time.
"I'm proud to have won seven of these cups," he said. "I'm proud having done this: winning the championship without losing and winning seven FA Cups."
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