Thursday 10 May 2018 18:38, UK
Arsene Wenger has predicted that European competition will replace the Premier League at weekends, forcing domestic football to be played midweek.
The Champions League final has taken place on a Saturday since 2010, but aside from that European football has been limited to weekdays. Wenger, though, envisages that may change.
"The next evolution? Maybe I will see you in a few years and you will certainly have a European league over the weekends," Wenger said at his final press conference.
"A domestic league will certainly play Tuesday, Wednesday. I think that is the next step we will see."
Wenger has been present for much of the development of both the Premier League and Champions League, arriving at Arsenal in 1995, three years after the inception of both competitions.
While the Champions League has benefited competitors from all over Europe, the Premier League has been able to generate more money and interest than its continental rivals, leaving some of Europe's biggest clubs keen to alter the situation.
Wenger himself played a huge role in the Premier League's rise to popularity, most memorably with his Invincibles team of 2003-04, but he doesn't consider that phase of Arsenal dominance as his best work with the club.
"I would say, personally, from 2006 to 2015 - it was certainly the period where I needed to be the strongest and did the best job," Wenger said.
"To accept to commit to five years when you build the stadium and to work with restricted resources and keep the club in a position where we can pay our debts back.
"I personally feel I did my best job in that period. Not the most glamorous, maybe, but the most difficult."
Wenger takes charge of Arsenal for the final time on Sunday, as Arsenal travel to Huddersfield on the last day of the Premier League season.
