Arsenal and its French players, a love story that lasts

Luis Enrique’s players are eagerly awaited by the London Gunners on Tuesday in the semi-final first leg of the Champions League.

The fight promises to be tough. Less brilliant recently, Luis Enrique’s PSG wants to strike hard against the Arsenal Gunners, Tuesday April 29 in the semi-final first leg of the Champions League and get closer (well, some would say) to the hoped-for final. The fact remains that the Londoners, like PSG, have only played in one final of the competition: it was in 2006, ending with a defeat against Barcelona. And if PSG has, for several years, had a certain popularity around the world, in London in particular, Arsenal remains a club very marked by all these “Frenchies” who have worn its colors.

The proof with, undoubtedly, the most famous of them: on the forecourt of the Emirates Stadium, Thierry Henry is there, on his knees, celebrating a goal, frozen in bronze for eternity. Like the top scorer in the club’s history, these Frenchmen from Arsenal have marked the history of the club, and even, according to some supporters, completely changed the history of the club.

“There are many French people, expatriates here, who support Arsenal, because Arsenal has a history very linked to French football, with French players, notably the 98 generation, with Emmanuel Petit, Thierry Henry, Robert Pirès… Many French people have an affection for this club“, underlines Stuart, a Parisian supporter who lives in London.

If Arsenal is the French’s favorite club, it is first and foremost the work of Arsene Wenger. He too at his statue in London: the French coach remained at the helm of the club for 22 years. “He was so… French! Thanks to him, there is always a link, there is a real connection, an affinity between Arsenal and the French. Today, there is Saliba… And because he is French and there is all this heritage, the supporters love him even more“, specifies John Cross, journalist at Daily Mirror.

William Saliba, a real rock within the best defense in the Premier League, is in fact the last in a very long line which began in 1996 with the arrival of Rémi Gard, Wenger’s first French recruit at Arsenal. Since then, around thirty have worn the Gunners jersey.