Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has already 'made his mind up' about his future, according to Charlie Nicholas. The Frenchman's position at Arsenal has been a talking point for a number of years but the scrutiny is as intense as ever after the Gunners suffered a humiliating 5-1 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich last week.

Wenger will make a decision over his future when his current deal at The Emirates Stadium expires at the end of the season, but Nicholas, who played for Arsenal between 1983 and 1988, thinks the 67-year-old 'has already admitted his time is up' and believes the atmosphere surrounding the club is becoming 'poisonous'.

"I think he's made his mind up and that it is done," Nicholas told Sky Sports. "He just looks like a man who has already admitted his time is up. The big factor he must be realising is that the players are not improving under him. He finally started spending the money and the team hasn't got any better.

"He's not getting the best out of Mesut Ozil, who you'd have thought would become a world-class player at Arsenal. It's only Alexis Sanchez who is really performing to his potential and he's looking around at his team-mates for help and isn't getting it.

Arsene Wenger
Wenger's tenure at the Emirates seems to be coming to an end Getty Images

"Things are getting poisonous now, for both his own health and the club, and I feel tremendously bad for saying it. I apologised last season when I said he should go but he knows it's time."

The issue of Wenger's future at Arsenal will have to be put on the backburn for the time being as his side look to avoid another humiliating defeat in their FA Cup fifth round tie against Sutton United on Monday night. Arsenal have only lost one of their last 19 matches in the world's oldest football competition but were part of one of the cup's greatest ever upsets when they were beaten 2-1 by fourth-tier outfit Wrexham in 1992.