Legendary Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will reportedly be the next statue at the Emirates Stadium walkway.
Wenger enjoyed 22 trophy-laden years with the north London club, winning three Premier League titles as well as a whopping seven FA Cups - the most of any manager. The Frenchman is arguably the Gunners' best-ever manager and according to James McNicholas of The Athletic, the 72-year-old has given his approval to a statue being cast in his image around the Emirates walkway.
The current FIFA Chief of Global Football Development would join the statues of Thierry Henry, Herbert Chapman, Tony Adams and Dennis Bergkamp as plans for modernising the club's ground begin to take shape. Wenger recently spoke about the biggest mistake of his coaching career, recalling his in-game management during Arsenal's devastating 2-1 loss to Barcelona in the 2006 UEFA Champions League final.
Read more: Gabriel Jesus makes 'very clear' decision after Tottenham’s late Arsenal transfer challenge
“First of all you have to make quick decisions,” he told beIN Sports when asked if he regretted taking off Robert Pires following Jens Lehmann's red card. “At that time, Pires was born in 1973 and we were in 2006, against Barcelona you know at some stage you have to defend.
“Pires was an offensive player, a very offensive player. Up front, we had (Alexander) Hleb, who was a hard-working type on the right-hand side and Pires on the left with (Freddie) Ljungberg as well.
“I had to decide is it Hleb, Ljungberg or Pires and, at the end of the day, I thought I keep the guy on the pitch who has the most energy. If I made a mistake it’s not at that moment.
"It was later in the game. In the end, with 15 minutes to go, I took Flamini on for Fabregas out because I wanted to defend the lead. Maybe I should have brought a third centre-back in at that time and keep the midfield as it is, take Hleb out and put a centre-back in and to try to defend as long as we could because there was only 13 minutes left.
“Sometimes with 10 minutes to go you just want to get your team over the line and focus on that. So overall, I would say many people question the change of Pires but if you had to play the game again it is not exactly what I would change.”
