sport news Arsene Wenger returning to Arsenal makes no sense as the Gunners are ...

sport news Arsene Wenger returning to Arsenal makes no sense as the Gunners are ...
sport news Arsene Wenger returning to Arsenal makes no sense as the Gunners are ...

Wenger going back to Arsenal makes no sense

Mikel Arteta would finally appear to be moving Arsenal forwards. It has taken a while and his team are still short of where they need to be, but there are signs of progress.

Which makes his recent comments about Arsene Wenger very strange indeed.

Arteta said last week: ‘Hopefully we can bring him close. I think he will have a great time just seeing the environment that he can create around him and around this place.

Mikel Arteta (L), who played under Arsene Wenger (R), wants the ex-boss back at Arsenal

Mikel Arteta (L), who played under Arsene Wenger (R), wants the ex-boss back at Arsenal

‘I would like him to be much closer personally to me, because I think it would be a great help — and it would be a great help for the club.’

Wenger stayed many years too long at Arsenal and has now been gone for a little over three. It has taken that long for Arteta — and Unai Emery before him —to unpick much of the mess the great Frenchman left behind.

Finally, Arsenal now looks and feels different. Arteta’s squad has a little balance to it in terms of its qualities and the age of its players. It is beginning to develop an identity that belongs very much to the Spaniard.

The Frenchman was sacked as manager in May 2018 after 22 years in charge of the club

The Frenchman was sacked as manager in May 2018 after 22 years in charge of the club

Why do anything to jeopardise that now?

Wenger’s chosen path since he walked out of the Emirates having not won a Premier League title in 14 years has been a haphazard one. He has written a bad autobiography and is now the man at FIFA who strangely thinks a World Cup every two years is a good idea.

Certainly, it seems somebody should give Wenger, 72, something more worthwhile to do. His brain remains sharp and his appetite for work and influence remains undiminished.

It is sad and rather hard to understand that he has never been back to north London. He gave Arsenal so much of what they are now. He designed the training ground and gave them the financial security to build the stadium.

Wenger won three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups as Arsenal manager (above)

Wenger won three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups as Arsenal manager (above) 

Each of the 58,000 home supporters present as Arteta’s team beat Newcastle on Saturday are forever in Wenger’s debt.

But Arteta and Arsenal categorically do not need Wenger back. Not now. Not with any great influence, anyway.

There should always be a seat reserved for him in the directors’ box, even if he never sits in it.

He should be to Arsenal what Sir Alex Ferguson is to Manchester United. Give him a fancy title if need be. But in reality he should never be more than an honorary guest.

When pressed on the club’s precise intentions, Arteta was vague. He explained the two had spoken at the premiere of a new film about Wenger and hinted something may yet be

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