Back in 1989 Wenger was on his way back from a scouting mission to Turkey where he was to watch Galatasaray play while manager of Monaco.
The Frenchman decided to stop in London and watch Arsenal play at Highbury, and says it made him ‘fall in love’ with Arsenal and the atmosphere at the famous old ground.
The chance visit also had a big impact on him later coming to manage the Gunners in 1996 telling the Arsenal Magazine: “I had been in Turkey two days earlier watching Monaco’s next opponents in the European Cup and I had to fly back on January 1, but I saw that in England they play football at that time of year so I decided to fly back from Ankara to France via London to watch a game first.
“I immediately thought that football in England was great. There was a fantastic atmosphere at Highbury and I just wondered ‘is everywhere like this? – even at that time I thought it would be great to be part of that.
“Obviously on that day I could never imagine that I would come back one day as manager, it was not even in my head.
‘It was just a coincidence because on that day I first met [former vice-chairman] David Dein and from then on we developed a friendship.”
The Arsenal boss will face his former club Monaco in the Champions League for the first time since joining Arsenal Wednesday night at the Emirates.
