Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger rejected the chance of joining Fulham before the appointment of Claudio Ranieri.
As reported by Mirror Sport, Fulham reached out Wenger as the club searched for potential replacements before settling on Claudio Ranieri. The Frenchman made it clear that he won’t be coaching another Premier League side out of respect to former club Arsenal.
The west London side pulled off a shock by appointing another one of the Premier League’s great managerial characters in Ranieri to replace Slavisa Jokanovic.
Wenger was Born in Strasbourg and raised in Duttlenheim to an entrepreneurial family, Wenger was introduced to football by his father, the manager of the local village team. After a modest playing career, in which he made appearances for several amateur clubs, Wenger obtained a manager’s diploma in 1981.
Following an unsuccessful period at Nancy which culminated in his dismissal in 1987, Wenger joined AS Monaco; the club won the league championship in 1988. In 1991, Wenger guided Monaco to victory in the Coupe de France, but their failure to regain the league title in later seasons led to his departure from the club by mutual consent in 1994. He briefly coached J.League side Nagoya Grampus Eight and won the Emperor’s Cup and Japanese Super Cup during his stay in Japan.
Wenger was named manager of Arsenal in 1996 and two years later led the club to a league and FA Cup double. The club won another league and cup double in 2002 and retained the FA Cup a year later. In 2004, Wenger managed Arsenal to an undefeated league season, a feat last accomplished by Preston North End, 115 years previously.
Arsenal later eclipsed Nottingham Forest’s record of 42 league matches unbeaten and went seven more matches before losing in October 2004. The club made their first appearance in a Champions League final in 2006, though they lost to Barcelona. After a period of almost nine years without a trophy, which coincided with the club relocating to the Emirates Stadium, Wenger guided Arsenal to further FA Cup success in 2014, 2015 and 2017, before stepping down as manager a year later.