English club Arsenal have unveiled a statue of the former manager Arsene Wenger right outside the Emirates Stadium on Friday.
Wenger, 73, managed the club for almost 22 years where he was in charge of 1,235 matches, leading the club through its most successful period in history where he won 17 trophies.
“Arsenal Football Club is delighted to announce that a statue of our former manager Arsène Wenger has been unveiled at Emirates Stadium to commemorate Arsène’s truly remarkable contribution to our football club,” the club said in an official statement.
“Arsene was our manager between October 1996 and May 2018, in which time he led the club to three Premier League titles, including an entire season unbeaten, seven FA Cup wins and 20 successive years in the UEFA Champions League.”
Including the three Premier League titles, Arsene led his team to an “Invincible” season where the Gunners did not lose a single game in the entire 2003-04 season.
The 3.5-metre statue of Wenger was created by sculptor Jim Guy. It was fixed right outside the stadium.
The 73-year-old is expected to visit his statue in the coming days as the club’s guest of honour as he is expected to attend Arsenal’s match against Monaco in the Emirates Cup next week.
Arsenal already have the statues of legendary figures like Tony Adams, Dennis Bergkamp, Herbert Chapman, Ken Friar and Thierry Henry.
The Gunners’ current head coach Mikel Arteta also honoured Wenger.
“He chose me to be one of his players and selected me to be the captain of the club and that’s something I will never forget,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said.
Arsene Wenger is one of the most important personalities in the Gunners’ history. He did not only manage the club for over 21 years but his impact goes beyond football as he also helped them to build the London Colney training centre as well as the Emirates Stadium.
He also rejected a move to Real Madrid in 2006 just so Arsenal could build the new stadium.