When you think of Arsenal in the modern era one name should readily spring to mind: Arsene Wenger.
The urbane Frenchman completely transformed every aspect of the way that the club was run and took the north Londoners, and by extension the rest of the Premier League, to a place that they’d never been before.
Looking back at the various successes that Wenger had whilst manager of the Gunners, one has to conclude that his methodology worked.
Not only that, but it has continued to underpin the way that the club works on and off the pitch years after he left the manager’s position.
One man who knows him very well is super agent, Jon Smith, and he’s in no doubt that Arsenal got it right by building a statue of him outside the Emirates Stadium.
“Arsene Wenger’s my friend and he’s one of of my icons. I was privileged to work with him and he was as wonderful as a human being as he is as a football coach,” he said in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.
“He should be honoured by Arsenal and he should be honoured by the game. I absolutely believe that there should be a statue of him and nobody should even consider pulling it down!
“He’s worthy of reverence and a piece of Arsenal footballing history for sure.”
His thoughts are surely echoed by the many thousands of Arsenal fans that pay their hard-earned to go and watch their heroes each week.
As the generations pass, it’s important that Wenger’s legacy and legend is passed down from one to the next. If club history is to be told properly, then the Frenchman has a big say.
What he did for the club can’t be forgotten by the passage of time because that would be a travesty.
Arsene Wenger is Arsenal. Arsenal is Arsene Wenger.
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