Arsenal icon reveals he turned down chance to manage Barcelona, Real Madrid

Arsene Wenger will go down as one of the greatest managers in the modern era of football, thanks to his legendary stint at Arsenal.

The French tactician spent a whopping 22 years with the Premier League clubs between 1996 and 2018, winning three Premier League titles, seven FA Cups and a number of other trophies.

Across his illustrious career, Wenger, who is now working as the FIFA Director of Development, had opportunities to leave Arsenal and make a move to a different club.

In fact, in a recent interview on beIN Sports, the 74-year-old revealed that he could have managed reigning La Liga champions Barcelona and their arch-rivals Real Madrid on multiple occasions but opted to stick with Arsenal.

“I could have joined Real Madrid two or three times, and Barcelona once,” revealed Wenger.

It is unclear as to when Barcelona made an approach for the Frenchman, but it was not enough for the Catalans to coax him away from Arsenal.

After the end of the 2017/18 season, Wenger decided to bring an end to his managerial career, although reports in France (h/t Mirror) claimed that Barça tried to appoint him in 2020, after sacking Quique Setien.

It is claimed that Wenger was approached by the Blaugrana after they decided to relieve Setien of his duties and even though he studied the proposal, the former Arsenal boss reportedly opted to reject the Catalan giants.

Barça would then go on to appoint Ronald Koeman as their manager in 2020, but the Dutchman lasted only around 15 months before Xavi Hernandez took over the reins.