ARSENE IS SUCH A JOY TO LISTEN TO, SHOULDN’T SKY TRY TO TEMPT HIM BACK?
WE ALL knew it would not be the same without him. We knew the Premier League was losing its great sage as well as its longestserving manager when Arsene Wenger said farewell at the end of last season. Who else would spend all day obsessing about football and then reveal a longing to spend the evening in conversation with Moses — the prophet who led the Hebrew slaves from Egypt, not the famously under-rated Chelsea and Nigeria wing-back, Victor. Little more than 10 weeks after the
tears, laughter and a five-goal finish against Burnley at the Emirates, and here is the 68-year-old former Arsenal boss bounding effortlessly through religion, philosophy and rolling back the years for a magazine chat on French radio. It is an abrupt reminder, just as English football turns from the World Cup and towards a new domestic season, that our game will be Wenger-free for the first time in 22 years. Unless someone can tempt him back... If not one of the clubs, then one of the broadcasters, perhaps? Just imagine him passing judgement on Manchester United on Monday Night Football. He spent the World Cup as a pundit for bein Sports and in his interview with RTL admits for the first time to an uncertainty about his next move — that his future may not be as a manager and perhaps he can ‘share the knowledge… in a slightly different way’. In truth, Wenger’s easy charm was ground into short supply by the friction which came to define the latter years of his Arsenal tenure. The wit and wisdom was harder to find amid the staunch defiance. A couple of months away from the power games of the Emirates and Wenger seems relaxed and recharged to such a degree it is remarkable to think his services are still on the market, available to anyone who can meet his (admittedly high) price. It cannot be long before someone pounces for his services. Otherwise, what next? Desert Island Discs. Or standing in for Jeremy Vine on Radio 2. Or a breezy chat with Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain.