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Legendary former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed he had the opportunity to join Real Madrid, Manchester United, Juventus, and Paris Saint-Germain during his time at the Emirates.
Wenger spent 22 glorious years with the Gunners in which he had much success. The Frenchman won three league titles, and seven FA Cups and is the only manager in English football history to oversee an unbeaten Premier League campaign.
The iconic coach left Arsenal in 2018 and hasn't continued his managerial career since. But, he's admitted he could have headed elsewhere during his time with the north Londoners (via FootballTalkHQ):
"I could have gone twice to Real Madrid, I could have gone to Juventus, to PSG, even to Manchester United. My fatal flaw is that I love too much where I am… where I was. I regret it. I should have gone somewhere else."
Wenger is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in Premier League and European football history. He brought an innovative and exciting philosophy to Arsenal.
The Frenchman's admiration for the Gunners led to him remaining with the north Londoners despite their struggles at the back end of his tenure. This came as a result of selling some of the club's most expensive players to help fund their move to the Emirates.
Wenger alluded to this when explaining why he rejected Madrid back in 2006. He said in 2021 (via The Mirror):
"We paid for it all ourselves, we didn’t get help from anyone. We paid for it on the pitch by selling our most expensive players and buying cheap. That’s why I didn’t go to Madrid. I wanted to finish the project."
Wenger oversaw 715 wins in 1234 games in charge of the Gunners. He managed 828 Premier League matches, which is the most of any manager in the competition's history.
Wenger warned Arsenal that their return to UCL football could cost their Premier League title challenge
Arsenal have returned to UEFA Champions League football this season for the first time since 2017. Wenger was in charge at the time and it's been a long road back to Europe's elite club competition for the Gunners.
Mikel Arteta's men qualified for the competition by finishing second in the Premier League last season. They have already advanced to the last 16 of the Champions League by winning Group B.
Wenger touched on how Arteta's side will have learned from last season's disappointment of missing out on the title to Manchester City (via Metro):
"They still have a young team, a talented team. I think they learned from what happened to them last year. They couldn’t cope well with that, mentally it was very difficult. I’m sure they would’ve learned from that."
However, Wenger fired a warning to his former employers about how playing in the European competition could hamper their title challenge:
"We have to deal with the Champions League, so that costs points as well."
Arsenal have slipped up in the Premier League recently, three of their last five games. They sit fourth in the table, five points behind leaders Liverpool after 20 games played.
