“One Arsene Wenger, there’s only one Arsene Wenger. “This song symbolically resounded, in the middle of the Arsenal-West Ham Boxing Day match (3-1), Monday at the Emirates Stadium. And for good reason, all the Gunners supporters were surprised to discover, on the giant screen of the London stadium, that Arsène Wenger was present in the stands. A great first since his painful departure from the club in May 2018, after an interminable lease as manager of Arsenal for 22 seasons.
Now director of football development at FIFA, a function that prompted him to closely follow the World Cup in Qatar, Arsène Wenger (73) therefore took more than four years before feeling ready to find “his” stadium. And for the first time in ages, Mikel Arteta’s Gunners are at the top of the Premier League, and clearly in the running for a league title, 18 years after that won by Wenger’s famous Invincibles.
“He has so much influence”
Even led at the break by the Hammers (0-1), Arsenal managed to score three goals in just 16 minutes (by Saka, Martinelli and Nketiah) to overturn their resumption meeting, and consolidate their surprising first place in the Premier League, with eight points ahead of Manchester City, who will travel Wednesday (9 p.m.) to Leeds.
“I hope he will want to spend more time with us and in the environment of the team, because he has so much influence, declared Mikel Arteta Monday evening. For everyone at the club, he is so important. I hope he was able to measure the place he has in the history of this club. Do you see it coming, the crazy party at the Emirates next May, with Arteta and Wenger united around the 2022 champions?