Arsene Wenger has responded to calls for an Arsenal return amid Mikel Arteta’s struggles.
Wenger enjoyed a successful 22 years at Arsenal, though he received heavy criticism from fans in the latter stages of his reign.
Gunners fans were desperate for their club to push on from their common fourth-place finishes having seen their side win the league three times under Wenger earlier in his reign.
Failure to reach those levels again saw Wenger heavily criticised, but Arsenal’s performance since has only highlighted how good a job the Frenchman did.
Unai Emery couldn’t help the Gunners kick on, and they seem to have gone backwards under Mikel Arteta over the last year-and-a-half.
But anyone hoping for a fairytale return for Wenger is going to be disappointed.
The Frenchman told The Telegraph: “Arsenal will be in my heart forever but, yes, I focus on my next life now.
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“Look, I gave the best years of my career to develop what I think is important – the stadium and pay it back and put the club in a position where it was capable of facing the future and had the potential to do well.
“At the end of the day, above all, we won and what I am most proud about is putting the club in that position.”