‘Sad’: Martin Keown says Arsene Wenger recently told him something about Arsenal that upset him
Arsene Wenger is one of Arsenal’s greatest legends. The Frenchman led Arsenal to three league titles during his time as the club’s manager, including an...
Arsene Wenger is one of Arsenal’s greatest legends.
The Frenchman led Arsenal to three league titles during his time as the club’s manager, including an unprecedented unbeaten season in 2003/04.
Sadly though, all good things have to come to an end, and Wenger left the club in 2018 after 20 years of service.
Since then, Wenger has started a role with FIFA, a decision that Arsenal fans were excited by at the time, while there have been suggestions that Arsenal should bring Arsene Wenger back in some capacity.
Speaking on the Seaman Says Podcast, Martin Keown has been discussing Wenger’s post-Arsenal career, and he says that it would be nice if the Frenchman was still at the club in some sort of role.
However, Keown caught up with Wenger recently as he wrote his new book, and he says that, sadly, the Frenchman now no longer feels he’s a part of the football club six years on from his departure.
How Arsene Wenger feels about Arsenal
Keown shared what Wenger told him about his feelings towards Arsenal.
The former centre-back says that Wenger feels entirely disassociated from the club these days, but he doesn’t dwell on that fact as he’s focused on his job at FIFA.
“He’s at FIFA now, but if he’s a brilliant enough mind to be at FIFA now then it would’ve been nice if he was at Arsenal in that collective thinktank,” Keown said.
“He’s not a part of the club now, he feels like he doesn’t feel a part of the club, which is sad, but he doesn’t sit around long enough to think about that, his job now is to push and develop the game of football.”
What Mikel Arteta has said about Arsene Wenger
Wenger does feel distant from Arsenal, but perhaps that is somewhat his own fault.
Indeed, Wenger said back in 2022 that he hadn’t been back to the club since leaving in 2018.
However, Mikel Arteta said in his next press conference after that revelation that Wenger is always welcome back to Arsenal.
“I would love to [see him back]. I think he has explained it. I think he has every window, every door, in this football club open whenever he is ready,” Arteta said.
“Whenever he feels it is the right moment to do it. He knows that from my side, he knows that from many other people at the football club.
“Hopefully that will happen soon because it will inspire and a lot of people would be so happy to see him back.”
In fact, Arteta has called for Wenger to return to Arsenal on numerous occasions.
For one reason or another, Wenger hasn’t taken Arteta up on that offer on too many occasions.
Wenger did return to the Emirates for the first time on Boxing Day in 2022 to watch Arsenal’s game against West Ham, while he visited his trophy at the stadium in 2023, but, other than that, the Frenchman has barely been back to Arsenal.
As Keown says, it is sad that there’s no working relationship between Arsenal and Wenger right now, but perhaps that is as much Wenger’s fault as it is the club’s.
Hopefully, we can see some sort of arrangement made for Wenger to take on some sort of ambassadorial role at Arsenal in the near future.
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