But despite an admiration for Los Blancos
that stemmed back to childhood, he says he
was never close to actually accepting their
offers, which came more than once. “No,” he
stresses. “I always felt that I had committed
to my challenge. I pushed the club to build
the new stadium and I wanted them to do it.
I was guiding them through a very sensitive
period. Of course the first period was more
glamorous, but we managed to remain in the
Champions League for almost 20 years with
fewer resources than people around us.
“I think that was the period when I worked
the hardest, maybe the best. But when you
have such a big period in front of you, people
don’t want to see that. They want to continue
having the same results.”
In his book, Wenger also names Juventus,
PSG, Bayern, France and England among the
teams who were keen to acquire his services,
and explains how he could have doubled or
tripled his salary by leaving. In the media, he
was linked with Manchester City and United,
too. Did they ever approach him? “City never,
United yes – I cannot tell you exactly when!”
he shares with a smile. It was said to be when
Sir Alex Ferguson nearly retired in 2002.
He says he could never have contemplated
moving to Old Trafford, though. “No, because
I was at Arsenal,” he insists. “You know, I had
a real love story with Arsenal. My life is red
and white. I felt when I came to the club that
there was this special charm inside it. It was
a good mixture between respect for tradition,
respect for people, and not being scared to
sometimes face unpopular judgements.
“Really, it was the love of my life, this club.
I meet so many people now who love Arsenal
- for the trophies we won, of course, because
when you have a child of about 10 years old
who saw us, the Invincibles, they became an
Arsenal fan. But also they love the club for the
values it represented.”
Wenger’s love for Arsenal made it all the
more painful when criticism began to build,
from an ever-increasing section of the club’s
own fanbase. “Completely honestly, I wasn’t
happy to be criticised, but I could understand
it as well,” he says. “After a while, supporters
want something new and different. Criticism
isn’t nice because you think you’re doing the
maximum, but crowds are like that. They live
in the moment. When you lose, people don’t
want to know how long you’ve been there
and what you’ve done for the club.”
In the latter years of his career at Arsenal,
Wenger would frequently take everything on
his shoulders. A perception grew that Arsenal
had cash to splash, and Wenger was simply
not splashing it. At the time, he largely optednot to dispel that notion. Was that money
actually there to spend, or was he protecting
the board by staying quiet?
“I was protecting the board and the club,”
he says now. “More the club than the board,
because I feel when you’re the manager, you
represent the club – and the board of course,
indirectly. I didn’t need to be protected – it
was my job to protect the club.
“It was a sensitive period, but we managed
to stay in the top four. In 2016, we finished
second in the league behind Leicester – 2017
was the first time that we didn’t qualify for
the Champions League, but we got 75 points
and won the FA Cup.”
That victory over Chelsea was his seventh
FA Cup triumph, three of them secured in his
challenging final years at the club. As a lad
growing up in France, he’d avidly watched the
FA Cup final on television. Wenger’s record in
the competition is something he will always
be immensely proud of.
“I am, because it’s the biggest competition
in the world, and no one has won the trophy
more times than me,” he beams. “No one has
lifted it seven times, and there have been so
many great managers in England.”INTO THE UNKNOWN
Near the end, barely a week passed without
debate about Wenger’s future. He prepared
for the 2017 FA Cup Final knowing he wasn’tARSEn E
WEn GER“MY BIGGEST REGRET IS THAT WE HAD TO PLAY WITH 10
MEn AGAInST BARÇ A, HAVInG nOT COnCEDED AGAInST
REAL OR JUVE. IT WAS HARD TO SWALLOW AnD STILL IS”
Below Celebrating
Double joy in 1998;
and becoming the
Invincibles in 2004