Arsene Wenger says he turned down the advances of Real Madrid “two or three times” during his tenure at Arsenal.

Wenger left the Gunners after 22 years earlier this month and is yet to decide what his next steps will be in football.

Throughout his reign in north London Wenger was coveted by a number of Europe’s top clubs - a fact he was not afraid of reminding his critics of when the pressure mounted on him during recent years. Real Madrid were among his keenest suitors, with club president Florentino Perez making him his first choice to take over in 2009.

However during that time Arsenal were still financially handicapped due to their move to the £390million Emirates Stadium, a project which tied Wenger to the club.

“When we built the stadium the banks asked me to commit for five years, the first time [I turned them down] was inside the five years and I thought no I could not do that, that would betray my club,” Wenger told beIN Sports.

“Real Madrid I think I turned down two or three times you know. It’s one of the teams I loved when I was a kid. I just felt that it was a very sensitive period for Arsenal Football Club.

“You are always tempted to go to Real Madrid because they offered me the chance to take control of the whole club.

“At the end of the day, I said no once, twice. I turned so many clubs down you could believe it. At the end of the day, I was happy where I was as well.”

Wenger also attracted interest from Barcelona and Bayern Munich during his reign, whilst it is no secret that the FA have previously taken an interest in him.

“I turned them [England] down two or three times,” the outgoing Arsenal boss added. “But at that time the daily involvement for me was important.”

An international job may be more appealing to Wenger, 68, after his exit from the Emirates Stadium. Following his final match, a 1-0 win against Huddersfield, he told Standard Sport that he could not bear to think about a scenario where he came up against Arsenal as a manager.