Arsene Wenger: "I loved Real Madrid as a child"

Arsene Wenger says he turned down the Real Madrid job "two or three times" but admits it was one of his favorite clubs as a child. After Zinedine Zidane's shocking resignation this afternoon, Wenger was the first one to be linked with Los Blancos. "Real Madrid, I think I turned them down two or three times," Wenger said in an interview with beIN Sports published the day before Zidane's announcement. "It's one of the teams I loved when I was a kid.I just felt that it was a very sensitive period for Arsenal Football Club. When we built the [Emirates] stadium, the banks asked for me to commit for five years. And the first time [Madrid made an approach] it was inside the five years, and I thought: 'no I cannot do that. That would be to betray my club.'" Wenger has yet to make up his mind on whether to take another job as manager or move into a director's role somewhere, but he said he is eager to start the next challenge.