ARSENE WENGER has claimed to be a “football priest” after the announcement that Luis Enrique will leave Barcelona at the end of the season stirred up further speculation about the Frenchman’s future at Arsenal.
Enrique claims he is “exhausted” after three years in charge at the Nou Camp while Arsene Wenger has already said if he does not extend his Arsenal contract he will manage somewhere next season.
And after Pep Guardiola also took a sabbatical after leaving Barcelona, Wenger, 67, feels that the younger generation no longer have the dedication necessary for decades of service.
“I am a specialist in masochism,” Wenger said. “Basically you get 90 per cent aggravation and 10 per cent top satisfaction and you have to give everything in your life for that.
“That’s what I always say to all the young people who want to go into this job. ‘Are you ready to sacrifice your life?’ It’s like being a priest; you’re a football priest.
“But it is as well a fantastic opportunity in life to go for what is really great in human beings, to get yourself to the next level always, to improve, to invent yourself, to push your limits further up and not to have an average life.”
Wenger refused to talk about the possibility of him taking over at Barcelona but claims still not to have decided whether or not to sign a new contract at Arsenal.
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Arsenal fans have offered Arsene Wenger to Barcelona with Luis Enrique leaving
“I have been here for 20 years and I had many times the opportunity to leave so I don’t think I have to convince you that my preference has always been Arsenal,” he said.
“But of course I am objective and lucid enough to make the right decision for myself and the club as well.”