Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was once extremely interested in taking the top job at Real Madrid, according to former Los Blancos president Ramon Calderon.
Wenger has been linked to the hot seat at the Bernabeu on numerous occasions during his 19-year tenure at Arsenal, and Calderon admitted the Frenchman was once keen on making the move to Spain.
“I imagine that anyone – be it a coach or a player – at some time in their career is interested in coming to a club like Real Madrid, especially when you have been at a club for 15 years, or however long, in England,” Calderon is quoted as saying by Goal.
“Anyone working in any other industry would be interested in change. I think it’s a good idea to have a coach who has a long-term plan.
“He was talking to me about Real Madrid and, at that time, he was very interested in the club and what was happening. I remember he said: ‘Are you going to Hollywood again, or to make a football team?’ He meant are you going for film-star Galacticos or to make a proper football team.
“It’s something you have in England that is a very good thing. You have it at Arsenal, you had at Manchester United [with Alex Ferguson], that the manager could stay at the club for a very long time. It’s impossible here.”
Calderon was elected as Real Madrid president in 2006 and resigned three years later in 2009.
Wenger is again facing fan pressure after failing to sign a striker during the summer transfer window, with key targets Karim Benzema and Edinsin Cavani remaining at Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain respectively.
The Gunners currently sit sixth on the Premier League table following two wins from its opening four fixtures.
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