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Arsene Wenger has said he knew he wanted to be the manager of Arsenal ever since he first visited Highbury in 1989.
Wenger, who was speaking ahead of the Gunners' last-16 first leg Champions League match against Monaco on Wednesday night, said his first experience of the north London club had him hooked from then on.
The Frenchman spent seven years with the Ligue 1 side, where he won the French title and the Coupe de France. It was during his time with Monaco that he made the journey to London. He sat for the first time in Highbury and watched Arsenal beat their north London rivals Tottenham 2-0.
"I remember the first time I visited Highbury, I was on my own and it was January 2, 1989," Wenger told the official Arsenal Magazine.
"I had been in Turkey two days earlier watching Monaco's next opponents in the European Cup and I had to fly back on January 1, but I saw that in England they play football at that time of year so I decided to fly back from Ankara to France via London to watch a game first.
"I immediately thought that football in England was great. There was a fantastic atmosphere at Highbury and I just wondered 'is everywhere like this?' - even at that time I thought it would be great to be part of that.
"Obviously on that day I could never imagine that I would come back one day as manager, it was not even in my head. It was just a coincidence because on that day I first met David Dein and from then on we developed a friendship."
