Sign up to FREE email alerts from Mirror - Arsenal FC Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Arsene Wenger has revealed his first Arsenal memory - and says it made him 'fall in love' with Arsenal.

The Frenchman called in at Highbury in 1989 having visited Turkey on a scouting mission to watch Galatasaray during his time in charge of Monaco.

The Gunners host Monaco this Wednesday in the Champions League, which will be the first time Wenger has ever faced his former club.

Arsenal boss Wenger says the atmosphere at the famous old ground left an impression on him, and revealed how the chance visit indirectly led to his appointment as manager in 1996.

“I remember the first time I visited Highbury, I was on my own and it was January 2, 1989,” Wenger told the Arsenal Magazine.

In pictures: Crystal Palace 1-2 Arsenal

“I had been in Turkey two days earlier watching Monaco’s next opponents in the European Cup and I had to fly back on January 1, but I saw that in England they play football at that time of year so I decided to fly back from Ankara to France via London to watch a game first.

“I immediately thought that football in England was great. There was a fantastic atmosphere at Highbury and I just wondered ‘is everywhere like this? - even at that time I thought it would be great to be part of that.

“Obviously on that day I could never imagine that I would come back one day as manager, it was not even in my head.

'It was just a coincidence because on that day I first met [former vice-chairman] David Dein and from then on we developed a friendship.”