Arsene Wenger was at Arsenal for so long that most of us have forgotten he actually managed several other teams before his 1996 move to north London.

Wenger managed Nancy (1984-87) and Nagoya Grampus Eight for a year before moving to Arsenal and staying put for two decades. However, in between these two clubs, he was at Monaco for seven years.

There, he won the Ligue 1 title in 1987-88 before collecting the Coupe de France in 1990-91. The Frenchman certainly made his mark at Monaco, However, he’d been coaching for far longer.

While many believe the 70-year-old began his managerial career at Nancy in 1984, he actually started coaching Strasbourg’s u19s in 1981 after he gave up his playing career at the same club. His home team.

Wenger’s teammates had apparently always thought of him as a leader and he impressed during his time in charge. It didn’t take long for Nancy to snap him up.

Ultimately, however, the French side were relegated; funds were very limited and their squad wasn’t the best, which explains how the boss learned to become so thrifty in later years.

Ultimately when Nancy went down, Wenger was allowed to converse with Monaco, where he moved.

When Wenger joined Monaco, he had already outlined the players he wanted to sign and how he would like to set up his squad.

The Ligue 1 side had just ended 5th but had been relying on Omar Da Fonseca, an Argentine striker. One of the Wenger’s first signings at Monaco was Mark Hateley. Da Fonseca had just scored 9 goals in 50 appearances for the French side.

Wenger didn’t hesitate and also signed Glenn Hoddle, who was at Spurs and had netted 88 goals in 377 appearances.

They were joined by French international, Patrick Battiston, who moved on a free transfer from Bordeaux.

Claude Puel was already in the side, and Monaco now had a strong team, one that people knew would challenge for the title.

In the duration of a year, Wenger managed to transformed the club. He changed their diets, introduced intense training methods and conducted 45-minute presentations on how to beat their opposition. Sound familiar?

Monaco won the Ligue 1 title by six points that season by playing beautiful football with a strong spine and the technically gifted Hoddle in the centre of the park.

Wenger’s eye for young talent didn’t start at Arsenal. He selected the players like George Weah, Lillian Thuram, Youri Djorkaeff, Emmanuel Petit and Thierry Henry when they were young. Some of them, as you know, would eventually sign for the Gunners.

During this time, and after making some solid signings and in 1988-89, Marseille also began to challenge/bribe officials and Monaco simply couldn’t compete with their rivals’ financial clout and were beaten to the title. It is something Wenger still holds a grudge about to this day.

During Wenger’s time in Monte Carlo, his side never finished outside of the top three.

However, it was a poor start to the 1994/95 campaign that got the boss sacked; he’d lost five games out of eight played.

Chairman Jean-Louis Campora had refused an advance from Bayern Munich just weeks prior to that.