Arsene Wenger to take up FIFA role - but he still wants a return to management

Arsene Wenger is set to take up a role with FIFA in the coming weeks, but he is still keen to return to management.

The former Arsenal boss has been out of work since departing the Emirates Stadium at the end of the 2017/18 campaign.

Wenger has been linked with numerous jobs in the last 18 months but has not yet returned to the dugout after his 22-year tenure in north London.

And according to ESPN, the Frenchman is on the verge of accepting an offer of a technical role with FIFA.

The exact nature of the position has not yet been defined, but Wenger will have a prominent role to play within world football’s governing body.

The 69-year-old is passionate about development the game around the globe and is excited about the opportunity to help FIFA in that regard.

However, his priority remains securing a return to management, the profession he has been involved in since assuming control of Nancy in 1984.

Wenger recently hinted that he would be prepared to take charge of a national team at the 2022 World Cup, having spent his entire career to date with club teams.

He still believes he has the ability to win trophies in club football, though, and continues to keep a close eye on the game around Europe.

But as much as the former Monaco manager wants another coaching role, he will only accept opportunities that fully satisfy him.

Wenger was appointed Arsenal boss in 1996 and went on to spend more than two decades at the club, winning three Premier League titles and a record seven FA Cups.

He departed in 2018 to be replaced by Unai Emery, who finished fifth in the Premier League in his debut campaign with the Gunners.

Emery's side welcome Aston Villa to the Emirates on Sunday afternoon.

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Greg Lea

Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).