Marc Overmars today claimed he would one day be willing to return to Arsenal as part of the club’s backroom staff.

The 39-year-old scored 41 goals in 142 appearances for the Gunners between 1997 and 2000 and is still in regular contact with Arsene Wenger.

Overmars was appointed technical director at Ajax last summer but revealed he is keen on a return to England should he be approached by his former club.

Arsenal are searching for a new academy director after Liam Brady announced his decision to step down next year and with manager Wenger’s future at the club also uncertain beyond the end of next season, a major reshuffle could occur.

Overmars told Standard Sport: “When you get older as a player, you work out what your qualities are for the future. I was quite fast to realise being a manager was not my job.

“The way I work with Ajax, I do the transfers, the contracts and organise the scouting, so it suits me. It wouldn’t surprise me if I work in the future at Arsenal — it could be a possibility.

“I’ve never discussed it with Arsene Wenger. But if the board think about the future and make a list of people to work at the club, it wouldn’t surprise me if I am on the list of people.

“However, at this moment, I want to stay at Ajax.”

Much has changed since Overmars (above) left the club to join Barcelona in a £25million deal almost 13 years ago, not least Arsenal’s move to Emirates Stadium at Ashburton Grove.

The Gunners have not won any silverware since 2005 — a year before they moved to their new 60,000-capacity home — and Overmars believes Arsenal “lost their aura” by making the switch from Highbury.

The Dutchman claims the club have suffered in the same way Ajax did in the mid-1990s, when leaving their old stadium and relocating to the Amsterdam ArenA in 1996.

They won the UEFA Cup in 1992 and the European Cup in 1995 before reaching the final again in 1996 but have not won a major European title since.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s Barclays Premier League clash between Tottenham and Arsenal, Overmars said: “I went back to Highbury to look around that area and still felt such a power there.

“When we were playing at home, we were unbeatable. That’s how we felt. But that’s the problem with a bigger stadium, often you lose that aura.

“It used to be intimidating at Highbury — that is the difference between the new stadium and the old one. When you build a new stadium, you must try to get the people as close as possible to the pitch.

“I was playing with Ajax in the old stadium and then the new stadium and we had the same problem.

“All the opponents wanted to play in this nice stadium so you lose that home advantage. They should have used more things from the old stadium in the new one.”

Marc Overmars was speaking ahead of the north London Derby in the Barclays Premier League. To join in on the conversation, look at the @BarclaysFooty Twitter feed and use the #NorthLondonDerby hashtag