Arsene Wenger finally left Arsenal at the end of last season after more than two decades in charge of the Premier League club and it's taken him just two months to admit he regrets staying as long as he did.
Imagine being in the same job for 22 years. It's something that a past generation might have been able to envisaged a lot more than we can, heck a good chunk of you probably haven't even been alive 22 years.
Personally this job is now the one I've kept longest at nearly three and a half years and I'll be very surprised if I'm still here in 18.5 years time.
Arsene Wenger though was in charge of Arsenal for that long having taken the job in 1996 and left this summer, despite literal protests over him keeping the job for several years.
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The Frenchman still had a year left on his contract but called it a day at the Emirates, but cited he'd rather have stayed on, and in came Unai Emery to replace him after nearly a quarter of a century.
Now though, in an interview with RTL, via Football London, the 68 year old revealed he regretted being at Arsenal so long. When asked his biggest regret he said:
"Perhaps staying at the same club for 22 years. I'm someone who likes to move around a lot, but I also like a challenge. I've been a prisoner of my own challenge at times."
'A prisoner of my own challenge' seems to be a perfect way to sum up Wenger's end in north London. At times he looked to be too stubborn to change from what his plan was or to leave when it seemed the perfect time to depart. In the end he had to leave with no silverware and finishing sixth.
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Wenger has hinted previously that he'd like another job and asked what was next he answered saying, "I'm asking myself the same question! Do I keep doing what I've been doing, what I know. Or do I share all the knowledge I've accumulated over the years in a slightly different way? That's the question I need to answer in the next few months."
The former Monaco manager was also asked how he coped with the English press and he said, "They ran a lot of stories. A lot of lies. Listen, it's a public-facing job and as such you are subject to attention, to rumours. You deal with it by staying focused on the task at hand and letting rumours and lies be exactly what they are. If there's nothing concrete behind it, then it won't stick."
Topics:ย Football News, Arsene Wenger, Premier League, England, Arsenal, France