Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger visited his old home stadium after a long time and met his statue.스포츠토토

Arsenal announced on the 28th of last month (Korean time), “To commemorate Wenger’s amazing achievements, we have erected a statue of Wenger at the Emirates Stadium, our home stadium.” It was recreated as manager Wenger lifting the English Premier League (EPL) championship cup.

The statue was erected outside the Emirates Stadium ‘North Bank Stand’. It is 3.5 m tall and weighs 500 kg. How did Wenger feel when his old image was erected as a statue?

In an interview with the club on the 3rd, Wenger said, “It’s a little strange to see myself not moving,” adding, “It’s really touching that a statue of me is being erected at Arsenal. It is a great honor. I always wanted to be part of the Arsenal club. Looking at this statue, I feel like I will be with Arsenal forever. I am really happy,” he said.

“I have dedicated myself to working for Arsenal. Looking around the Arsenal Stadium now, I feel that the work I put my body into was worthwhile. To be honest, I had a lot of trouble with this stadium in the past. I also suffered from insomnia,” he confessed, “I feel good because my statue is located in the shade of the stadium.”

The Emirates Stadium was built while Wenger was leading Arsenal. Wenger often visited the Emirates construction site and dreamed of a bright future. However, soon after the stadium was completed, Arsenal’s momentum declined. Because they spent too much money at one time, the amount of money to recruit players decreased. Arsenal had no choice but to tighten their belts.

Wenger is a legendary manager who led Arsenal for 22 years from August 1996 to May 2018. During this period, he led Arsenal to 1,235 official matches. The record was 707 wins, 280 draws and 248 losses. The win rate is 57.2%.

Arsenal have won three Premier League titles, seven FA Cup titles and seven Community Shield titles under Wenger. He has also won the Premier League Manager of the Year award three times. In particular, he wrote the history of winning the Premier League undefeated in the 2003-04 season. It is an unprecedented record.