He arrived in Britain like something from outer space. In 1996, as the leaves were turning red on Avenell Road, Highbury, Arsenal’s new manager took up the reins so recently in the hands of the Bergkamp-buying, blazer-wearing Bruce Rioch. How would Arsène Wenger fit with the likes of Joe Kinnear, Harry Redknapp, Gerry Francis, Kevin Keegan and Ron Atkinson, all at the time, as football argot has it, plying their trade as managers in the Premier League? He wore glasses. Not just any old glasses, but full-on cultural studies lecturer about to illuminate the world of Derrida, Barthes and semiotic analysis glasses. He was French – French! – with a good helping of Alsatian. And he had...
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