'Pep Guardiola wanted to join Arsenal', Arsene Wenger says
Wednesday 4 November 2015 08:52, UK
Pep Guardiola wanted to join Arsenal during his playing days and even had talks with Arsene Wenger, the Frenchman has claimed.
Wenger and Guardiola will be in opposite dugouts when Arsenal take on Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night.
But, according to the Arsenal boss, the pair could have been sharing a dressing-room had Guardiola got the move to north London he was after during his playing career.
"He wanted to play with me as a coach," Wenger said at his pre-match press conference in Germany. "He wanted to play for Arsenal. I met him, he was 30-31 back then.
"I can't really remember, after that he went to Italy and I had players like Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit who were still young and played for the national team as well."
Guardiola came through the youth system at Barcelona and spent more than a decade there as a deep-lying midfielder.
He left for Serie A side Brescia on a free transfer in 2001 and went on to play for Roma before spells in Qatar and Mexico.
Wenger said of Guardiola the manager: "What I admire is that his team are very positive, very attacking.
"He has a positive mentality and a positive attitude towards football. That is why he adapted very well to Bayern - he is a great coach."
