Arsenal: Why wouldn’t you want Arsene Wenger back?

Arsene Wenger has revealed that he has spoken about a return to Arsenal. Who would not want him involved at the club in one way or another?

It is a little over a year ago that Arsene Wenger announced he was to resign from his role as Arsenal manager. After 22 years with the club, the Frenchman, who was the longest-serving manager in England at the time, was finally departing.

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But recently, Wenger has been speaking about a possible return to management, or to the club where he made his name in some form or another.

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Speaking to BEIN Sports, Wenger, when asked about a possible return to north London, said:

"“I have been in touch with some people at the club but I felt when you go like that you cannot be half in, half out. You let people who come in work their way. And I wanted to take a complete distance. It’s still a bit early, maybe, to go back. I haven’t been back at the club.”"

That is far from an admission that Wenger is now going to be a member of the Arsenal board, of course, but it would be foolish to think that it isn’t a possibility in the future. Like Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, it would be foolish not to take advantage of such a historic figure.

The Gunners turned to Unai Emery to succeed their greatest ever manager. In his first season, Emery showed promise. There were some mistakes, most notably in the final weeks of the campaign when his side crumbled with an opportunity to seize a top-four finish, but there were also plenty of reasons for hope.

And then this past summer was extremely encouraging. While the jury must still remain out on the signings the club made, given that we are only four games into the new season, the positions they addressed, the sales they made, and the early signs of the players acquired have all been positive. Arsenal are on the up. It seems that

Wenger, though, would still provide unique and unmatched experience and know-how. It has been a very positive start to the post-Wenger era, but to think that Wenger could not aid the club in one way or another is utter tosh. Now, Emery may not want the overhanging presence of a legend — David Moyes certainly struggled with it at Manchester — and Wenger is right when he says it is not time yet, but to not lean on his knowledge of the club and the sport seems foolish to me.

Wenger will not be the manager at the Emirates again, of course. But that does not mean he cannot be useful. In fact, it would be mental to think that he couldn’t.