ARSENE WENGER has confirmed for the first time Paris Saint-Germain approached him three times about becoming their manager.
On the eve of Arsenal's clash with the French side, Wenger did not dispute PSG's Nasser Al-Khelaifi, a personal friend of his, had tried repeatedly to persuade him to quit the north Londoners. But he said out of love and loyalty to the Gunners, he snubbed the Qatari billionaire.
It was widely reported in Wenger's homeland on Monday that the contact came in 2011, 2012 and 2014.
Wenger was asked about the bids last night and explained why he had not said ‘yes'.
"Because I love where I am," said the 66-year-old. "I know well the owners but I feel always I remained loyal to Arsenal Football Club because I think it's a club that has the qualities I love. And that's why."
Wenger has also been courted by the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City, France and England, and is now in the final year of his Arsenal contract.
The north Londoners struggled in Europe, going out at the first knockout stage in the last six seasons.
In his 19th year in the competition with Arsenal, Wenger stated he had a squad with the maturity and experience to do much better.
"I was used to playing with my younger squads when you build a stadium because you don't have the resources," he said.
"Now I have a team with more experienced players. The squad is between 24 and 30, basically. That's where you have a good combination of physical strength and experience.
"But we want to keep giving chances to young players and get the mixture right."
Arsene Wenger has stayed loyal to Arsenal after turning down PSG on separate occasions
It is a message Wenger had been sending over the last two seasons and he appeared yesterday to be a little tired of broadcasting it, calling on his men to prove their actions spoke louder than his words.
"Better than all my speeches is the way we play, the dynamic we have and the intensity we put into the game," he added.
"We play in a championship where you look at the results over the weekend and it's very intense. We are used to playing with the intensity you need in the Champions League. That's what we want to do. Playing well is better than talking, and making the results which we want to show tomorrow."
Their opponents appear not at their best right now, following the departures of axed boss Laurent Blanc and talisman striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who joined Manchester United in the summer.
New boss Unai Emery, plucked from Sevilla following his Europa League double success with the Spanish side, has struggled to implement his style and approach.
The previously all-conquering team have picked up just one point from their last six - a poor return from a team who won their title by a record 31 points last season.
He admitted he had plenty to learn before he could claim to be in Wenger's league.
"I've been at coaches' meeting for the last five years and seen Wenger," he added.
"I'm 44, quite young, and trying to learn still. But I've been speaking with the best coaches in Europe over that time and that includes Wenger.
"I have a lot of respect for his longevity. It's not very common - there was Sir Alex Ferguson - but we'd all like to be in a similar situation to Arsene Wenger."
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