Pires had a successful six years in north London, winning the Premier League twice as well as helping Arsenal to the Champions League final in 2006. He was voted Arsenal’s sixth-greatest ever player in 2008 despite leaving the club two years earlier.
Pires left after failing to keep a starting spot in Arsene Wenger’s XI, while he was also sacrificed following Jens Lehmann’s earlier sending off in the aforementioned European Cup final with Barcelona.
But there was no falling out with Wenger, who left Arsenal after 22 years this summer.
“He called me one day, so I was really surprised,” Pires told Arsenal Player.“It was very impressive to talk with Arsene Wenger because I’d known him since a long, long time and he said ‘Robert, I know you since you used to play for Metz and now you play for Olympique Marseille, but next season, I need you’.