Mikel Arteta has admitted he would have appreciated advice from former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger at the start of his tenure at Emirates Stadium.
Wenger left the club in 2018 having won three Premier League titles and a record seven FA Cups after taking charge in 1996.
He was initially replaced by Unai Emery before Arteta’s appointment in December 2019 as the Spaniard ended his playing days as Wenger’s captain at Arsenal.
The Gunners haven’t played in the Champions League since Wenger’s penultimate season in the dugout, but a strong start to the current season has given Arteta a chance to return Arsenal to the top of European football.
They travel to Brentford on Sunday having won five of their opening six Premier League games to head to the top of the weekend standings.
Wenger revealed earlier this week at the launch of former Arsenal chairman David Dein’s book that he has not returned to the Emirates since leaving, adding: “I think you know that after 22 years, I may have come to the end of the road and people wanted a change, I can understand.
“The club has chosen a different direction, which I can fully understand and sometimes you have to completely change and start afresh.
“My presence there could have been a problem, so I’m staying completely out of the way and giving the club the chance to rebuild a new connection with the new manager.”
Arteta, however, thinks it’s a shame he couldn’t spend time with his former manager.
“I would have loved to have him closer, to be able to open up and at certain times just to listen and learn from him and everything he’s been through,” the 40-year-old said.
“But he thought about it, he did it in a way that made sure whoever came after that would have the respect and the space that he thought was important and he honored that and that for me is the reason for which he did.”
Wenger, 72, is currently head of global football development at FIFA, but Arteta insists he would be welcome back at the north London red side whenever he wants.
“I’ve been grateful to him since the day I arrived here, the opportunity he gave me and the way he treated me,” he added.
“The way he inspired me and how supportive he was.
“I would love that (Wenger comes back one day). I think he has all the windows and all the doors of this football club open when he’s ready and when he feels it’s the right time to do it.
“He knows it from my side and he knows it from a lot of other people in the football club and I hope it happens soon because I think he’s going to inspire and a lot of people are going to be so happy to see him. “
