Former Arsenal midfielder Stephen Hughes has revealed that far from the stoic, unfeeling man many believe Arsene Wenger to be, the boss is actually more than happy to joke around with his players behind the scenes.

Hughes recently shared a humourous story in which Wenger actually caught him pulling Ian Wright around the Marble Halls on roller-skates.

“Of course there were times when he didn’t find it funny,” Hughes said. “I remember pulling Wrighty down the Marble Halls with him on roller-skates. I remember Wrighty going: ‘Come on, Hughesy, pull me!’ Just as he got there, the gaffer’s head popped round the door and saw me pulling him down on roller-skates.

“I was thinking: ‘oh no.’ He wouldn’t find that funny at all whereas Wrighty was like a kid with his new roller-skates.

“He loved the jokes. He would either get involved or you could always see him look over, giggling and trying to listen in because he really enjoyed it. Ray Parlour was always trying to get him involved and he nearly always found it funny.”

Other than sounding a bit like a scene from a Carry On film, it sounds as if Wenger isn’t quite the hard-nosed ice King many deem him to be.

As fans, we probably won’t ever get to see this side of him. However, for the players that do, it must be light relief from the pressure of match days and the sport in general.

As much as football can be fun, we know all too well and that sometimes, more often than we’d like, it isn’t, and I imagine that’s even more true for the players themselves.