Arsenal to honour Arsene Wenger with statue at Emirates Stadium

Arsenal are working on a specially commissioned bronze statue of Arsene Wenger ahead of an unveiling at Emirates Stadium, reports The Athletic.

The Gunners hope to have it in place to mark the 20th anniversary of the Invincible season the Frenchman led them to.

Arsenal remain the only club in the Premier League era to have won the title without a defeat.

A digital unveiling of Wenger’s statue will be available for everyone to access.

The Gunners legend will then attend a private ceremony, with family, friends and players from the Invincibles in the coming months.

Getting Wenger’s blessing for the statue and its unveiling was a ‘delicate process’ due to the manner in which he left the club.

His departure in 2018 after 22 years at the club was announced abruptly before the end of the season and he chose to stay away from the club in the aftermath.

Both parties have since reconciled and rebuilt bridges, with Wenger returning to the Emirates Stadium for the first time in four and a half years to watch Arsenal take on West Ham United on Boxing Day last year.

The statue will accompany those of Dennis Bergkamp, Tony Adams, Thierry Henry and Herbert Chapman and is long overdue.

Arsenal won three Premier League titles, seven FA Cups and seven Community Shields under Wenger, and they also became the first London club to reach the final of the Champions League in 2005-06.

The three-time Premier League Manager of the Season was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame earlier this year and is widely regarded as one of the best managers of all time.