Arsene Wenger says he respects Pep Guardiola for his attacking mentality and “positive approach” to football.
The Spanish manager joined Bayern Munich in 2013 after a successful four-year spell with Barcelona, and has guided the German side to back-to-back Bundesliga titles in the last two campaigns.
Bayern are undefeated in the league this season, scoring 33 times in the process, and Wenger has credited Guardiola’s forward-thinking philosophy with the Bavarians’ success.
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“He wanted to play under me, yes,” Wenger said. “I met him and he wanted to play for Arsenal. He was already 30 or 31 at the time I think.
“He went to Italy afterwards and I had players at the time like Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit, who were very young and played for the national team. At that time, he already showed a big personality.”
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