A day that must have begun with Arsene Wenger wondering with some trepidation just how he would be received by the Arsenal fans ended with an intriguing reminder that he really was once the most sought after manager in world football.

We already knew about the past interest from Barcelona, Real Madrid, Paris St-Germain, Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Chelsea. Wenger could also have taken the England job as recently as last year. But Manchester United? In his new autobiography, former chairman Martin Edwards revealed for the first time that Wenger was the club's unanimous choice to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson and how they twice secretly met with the Arsenal manager to discuss the possibility of him taking over from his great rival in 2002.

The outcome followed all of Wenger’s past dalliances. A brief period of flirtation was followed by reaffirming his marriage to Arsenal - but was he seriously tempted?