Arsenal legend Robert Pires has reiterated his desire to return to the club one day and work alongside Gunners boss Arsene Wenger.
The former France international is currently an ambassador for the club and The Arsenal Foundation but has also set his sights on working with Wenger, who appointed another ex-Arsenal player - Jens Lehmann - to his backroom staff last summer.
Pires trains regularly with the first team at London Colney and remains close with Wenger as well as stars including Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. However, the 44-year-old admits that he harbours further ambitions of returning to the club as a permanent member of staff.
“I’m still training with the first team and my ambition is to work in Arsene Wenger’s staff one day,” Pires told Goal.
“For the moment I don’t have any news but it’s not urgent. I’m an ambassador for the club, I work for French TV, I travel with the Arsenal legends and my schedule is busy at the moment, but my ambition is to work with Arsene Wenger and Arsenal.
“When you are an ex-footballer you want to stay with the one team and one club, and Arsenal is my club.”
Kanu TwitterPires is one of several famous footballers who has his son enrolled at Arsenal’s academy and 10-year-old Theo has previously captained the Gunners' Under-9 side.
Hector Bellerin, Alex Iwobi, Jack Wilshere and Ainsley Maitland-Niles are all products of the famed Hale End system, and Pires reveals that Wenger’s knowledge of the club extends to every aspect, including youth level.
“I think he [Wenger] knows everything that’s happening in the Arsenal academy,” said Pires.
“For my son, the most important thing is to always enjoy the training session, games and tournaments because he’s only 10 years old and very young.
“He needs to learn and the Arsenal academy is a great place to educate yourself as young footballer - but I don’t put any pressure on my son.”