Pep Guaridola was keen to play under Arsene Wenger at Arsenal

Pep Guardiola (L) and Arsene Wenger (R) are two of the best managers in Europe

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has claimed that Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola wanted to join the Gunners as a player more than a decade ago, as per reports on Sky Sports. As Guardiola’s time at Barcelona came to an end, he met with the French coach to discuss a move to Highbury, Arsenal’s former stadium.

Guardiola and his side are set to host the Gunners at the Allianz Arena in Champions League Match Day 4 on Wednesday night. The Bavarians will be looking to avenge their 2-0 defeat at Emirates Stadium to Wenger’s men last month.

Both managers are well-respected all over Europe and they are appreciated mainly because for their footballing philosophy. The pair has achieved a lot during their managerial careers. The Frenchman is continuing to extend his legacy in North London while Guardiola has already earned legendary status at his boyhood club Barcelona.

On Wednesday night, Guardiola and Wenger will be in opposite dugouts, but the Arsenal boss has revealed that the pair could have been sharing a dressing-room had the Spaniard got the move to North London during his playing career.

The French coach has stated the move was not possible at that time since Wenger had the likes of the French duo Patrick Viera and Emmanuel Petit at his disposal. Both players flourished in Arsenal’s midfield and went on to form a formidable partnership in the late 90s.

“He wanted to play with me as a coach,” said Wenger ahead of their CL match against Bayern.

“He wanted to play for Arsenal. I met him, he was 30-31 back then.”

“I can't really remember, after that he went to Italy and I had players like Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit who were still young and played for the national team as well.”

The former Barcelona coach was a La Masia graduate and he spent more than a decade, playing as a deep-lying midfielder for the Catalan side. In the twilight of his career, he went on to join Serie A side Brescia in 2001 as a free agent. Guardiola also played for AS Roma before moving to Qatar and Mexico.

Guardiola is a great coach: Wenger

The Arsenal coach is full of praise for the Spanish coach’s team and admires them for their ‘positive attacking football’.

“What I admire is that his team are very positive, very attacking,” he said.

“He has a positive mentality and a positive attitude towards football.”

“That is why he adapted very well to Bayern - he is a great coach.”