‘It was the right time’ – Arsène Wenger on leaving Monaco

In an interview with L’Équipe, former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger discussed his time as manager of AS Monaco and why he made the decision to leave the club in 1994.

The French manager was in charge of Les Monégasques for a 7-year period. Wenger still holds the record for spending the longest amount of time on the bench at the Stade Louis II without leaving the club in between. This record sits at 2635 days. Following his departure from the Principality Club, the former Nancy coach went to Japan to become head coach of Nagoya Grampus Eight.

Wenger had great success at Monaco. The Invincibles coach led Les Monégasques to a Ligue 1 title in 1988 and a Coupe de France triumph in 1991. Despite his success, the former Arsenal manager made the decision to leave the principality in 1994. Talking about this decision, Wenger said, “I had one year left on my contract and I didn’t want to extend it. We had a bad start to the championship. I left in mid-September, it was the right time.”

GFFN | Liam Wraith