Arsene Wenger says management requires sacrifice as he likens it to the priesthood

Arsene Wenger has likened football management to the priesthood

Arsene Wenger has likened being a football manager to joining the priesthood and admits you have to "sacrifice your life" to be a success.

The Arsenal boss is becoming a dying breed of manager who remains at one club for a prolonged period, having celebrated 20 years in charge last October.

But the 67-year-old could bring down the curtain on that lengthy reign when his contract expires at the end of the season.

Wenger has been recently linked to the Barcelona hot-seat - although he has since distanced himself from such claims - with Luis Enrique announcing on Wednesday evening he would leave at the end of the campaign.

Wenger sympathised with Enrique as he revealed the message he gives to aspiring managers at the start of their career.

"I think everybody experiences that in a different way," he said when asked about the stamina required to manage a big club.

"What I can say, yes, it's very demanding. It's a sacrifice of your life. You have nothing else happening in your life.

"Basically you get 90 per cent aggravation and 10 per cent job satisfaction and you have to give everything in your life for that. You have to be ready for it.

"That's what I always say to all the young people who want to go into this job. 'Are you ready to sacrifice your life?' It's like a priest. You're a football priest."

Wenger has said he will manage next season whether it is at Arsenal or another club, but insisted on Thursday he preferred to remain at the Emirates Stadium.

While explaining the commitment required to be a top boss, Wenger also outlined why he had remained at Arsenal since his appointment in 1996.

"I am a specialist in masochism," he added.

"I believe as well it allowed me to get to the next level as a human being, to develop my strengths in what makes a human being great as well.

2:38 Arsenal 2-0 Hull Arsenal 2-0 Hull

"To get the best out of people, that is absolutely fantastic. And of course you have disappointments, with people, with results.

"But it is as well a fantastic opportunity in life to go for what is really great in human beings, to get yourself to the next level always, to improve, to invent yourself, to push your limits further up and not to have an average life.

"And on that front it is very interesting, it is very demanding, but as well very interesting if you really face the challenge. By accepting as well, facing the reality, in an objective way, what you have to do to get better."

New customers: Grab a NOW TV Sky Sports Month Pass for £20pm for the first 2 months and catch a blockbuster period of live Sky Sports action. No contract.