Mikel Arteta wants Arsene Wenger to play huge role at Arsenal as the door open for return
Mikel Arteta has paved the way for Arsene Wenger to take on a larger role at Arsenal.
It comes after the Spaniard admitted he would welcome assistance from the Gunners legend, who spent 22 years at the club.
Wenger is the club’s longest-serving manager of all time and is credited with changing the way the Premier League is played.
While his attacking football was a joy to watch for many in Arsenal’s prime, with the likes of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, and Robert Pires among the best players the Premier League has ever seen.
Arteta has been desperate to replicate some of his former manager’s success with the Gunners, and he began his managerial career with an FA Cup – only six months into his time at the club.
However, things have been a bit of a rollercoaster since Arsenal finished eighth in the Premier League last season.
It meant that the club would miss out on European football for the first time since 1996, coincidentally Wenger’s first season in charge.
And Arteta would be delighted to see his old mentor return to the Emirates, admitting that it was him who inspired him to become a manager in the first place.
Arteta said: “If it was not for him I would not be in the position I am today and I wouldn’t have enjoyed the career I had.
“I was still young and I had my ideas, but he was a different level of inspiration on how I looked at the game.
“He was very good at being able to transmit what a football club meant into the players and he put different question marks on me. That is why I started to study and take coaching much more seriously.”
Wenger has not ruled out a return to football management, and he currently serves as FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development.
Arteta, on the other hand, stated that he would welcome the 72-year-old back to the club in some capacity.
The Spaniard added: “I would like him to be more present at the club. I think the players would love him, benefit, and be inspired to have him around and I think for the club it would be a huge boost.
“It was so intense for him for over 20 years and you need to get away a little bit, but I think it would be so beneficial for all parties to have him more present.”
And while Wenger’s coaching dream is not dead in the water, the Frenchman hinted that any role would likely be an international level.
He said: “I’m crazy enough to be crazy and to make a crazy decision, but I’m determined at the moment not to do it, maybe a national team at some stage.
“But at the moment I’m involved in projects with FIFA and I want to go to the end with it and that’s for me more useful now.”
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Mikel Arteta wants Arsene Wenger to play huge role at Arsenal as the door open for return
