Arsenal have "no plans" for Arsene Wenger return

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 01 March 2022

Arsenal rule out welcoming former manager Arsene Wenger back to the club in a formal capacity after his 22-year stint in the dugout came to an end in 2018.

Arsenal have no plans to welcome former manager Arsene Wenger back to the club in a formal capacity.

The 72-year-old departed as Arsenal's most successful manager in history with three Premier League titles and two FA Cups in a 22-year spell before stepping down in 2018.

Mikel Arteta publicly stated his desire for Arsenal to bring Wenger "closer" to the club during the premiere of his documentary last year, with the Frenchman currently FIFA's Chief of Global Development.

However, during a recent fans forum with Arsenal chief executive Vinai Venkatesham, it has now been revealed that the Gunners do not intend to re-hire their former boss.

The minutes of the meeting read: "Vinai responded that there is nothing but love and admiration for Arsene from the club. He is always welcome here, but of course with his new role at FIFA he is in Zurich, and travelling, much of the time.

"There are no plans for a formal role. He believes Mikel was responding to media asking if he would like him to be around which of course we would."

Wenger won 708 of his 1224 games in charge of Arsenal and has now been tipped to replace Leonardo as Paris Saint-Germain's sporting director should Zinedine Zidane land the manager's job.