Paul Merson was lost for words after seeing fan wearing an Arsenal shirt with his name on

Paul Merson was lost for words after seeing an Arsenal fan with his name and number on the back of their shirt ahead of Sunday's North London derby.

The 56-year-old, who was at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in his role as a pundit for Sky Sports, enjoyed 12 years at boyhood club Arsenal between 1985 and 1997.

He lifted two league titles and an FA Cup during his time at the Gunners, and was a fan favourite at Highbury before spells at Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and Portsmouth.

Merson's influence on that successful Arsenal side in the '90's will always be admired by Arsenal supporters.

And on Sunday afternoon, a fan decided to pay tribute to the former midfielder by wearing 'Merson 10' on the back of his shirt ahead of their important title clash against Spurs.

As you can see from the clip below, Sky captured the moment on camera – and Merson appeared taken aback by the gesture.

"They remember me," he said as he sat alongside Roy Keane and Michael Dawson. "I can't believe it. Yeah..."

Sky presenter David Jones then commented: "You feel quite emotional don't you Paul."

Merson, however, does not support Arsenal, despite making over 300 appearances for the club.

Back in October last year, he took to social media to show his support for Chelsea ahead of their Premier League game against Burnley.

Speaking to FourFourTwo in 2006, he opened up about his support for the Blues and Ray Wilkins, who was "always" his hero.

"I was a Chelsea fan when I was growing up, and Butch was the main man at Stamford Bridge back then," he said.

Merson was also asked if there were any teams he'd liked to have played for but didn't.

"When I was 18 Anderlecht wanted me, and Rangers wanted me at one point, but I have no regrets," he said.

"AC Milan might have been good. But then, I can just about talk English, and there's the whole language thing – it would be hard work and life's too short. It's also tough on the family if you go abroad."

He added: "Even though I supported Chelsea, and had a chance to go there, I went to Arsenal. Chelsea were s*it back then."

Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports

Topics: Paul Merson, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Premier League

Jack Kenmare

Senior Journalist at SPORTbible with a passion for long-form journalism. Almost 10 years’ experience across online and print.

@jackkenmare_