Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown believes that Arsene Wenger should be part of the board at the club now to put his expertise to use.
The Frenchman enjoyed an incredible 22-year stint in charge of the Gunners and was lauded for revolutionising the English game with the side that toppled Sir Alex Ferguson’s all-conquering Manchester United at the time.
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Wenger won three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups in a successful tenure while also going an entire season unbeaten to be crowned the ‘Invincibles’, although it undoubtedly soured towards the end as many supporters called for him to move on prior to his eventual exit due to ongoing failures on the pitch.
While he has stayed busy since leaving Arsenal with various punditry work and is now involved with FIFA as their chief of global football development, as per BBC Sport, Keown has insisted that he should be back at the Emirates and involved with Arsenal at boardroom level.
“Wenger was a visionary. He should be in the board room,” Keown said, as per the Daily Mail. “What’s the alternative, though? The alternative is what he’s got now — no official link to Arsenal Football Club when he should be sitting proudly in the board room. When I hear him talk, he still says ‘us’ and ‘we’. Have Wenger on the board and put his expertise to use.”
It’s a fair point from Keown in that Wenger’s expertise in the game would surely be of use to the Arsenal hierarchy, and his attachment and connection to the club will always ensure that he has its best interests at heart.
A blend of his tradition and a push to ensure the culture he instilled remains alongside Mikel Arteta’s more modern philosophies could be an ideal synergy, but perhaps the opposing argument is that the Spaniard has made a positive start to life at the Emirates and should be allowed to stamp his mark on the club now to try and open up a new cycle of success doing it his way rather than looking to the past.
Time will tell if Keown’s view is shared by others at the club, as it’s difficult to imagine Wenger turning down the opportunity to be involved in some capacity.