Arsene Wenger has confirmed he will step down as Arsenal manager at the end of the season.
He will leave a year before his contract was due to expire at the Emirates, but he has decided to bring his 22-year reign to an end.
He won three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups since his appointment in October 1996 - and he could add another piece of silverware before the end of the season with Arsenal in the last four of the Europa League.
While the Frenchman was always going to leave the north Londoners sooner rather than later, the news still comes as a shock to the world of football.
He has been hugely influential on the English game and his former players have been paying tribute on social media.
See below...
😱
— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) April 20, 2018
“It just blew my mind what Arsene Wenger brought to me”
— BBC Radio 5 live (@bbc5live) April 20, 2018
Arsenal player Matthew Upson – who joined #AFC in 1997 as an 18-year-old, one year after Arsene Wenger started – on what the manager brought to the club, and him as a player. #MerciArsène pic.twitter.com/ojOZRU6adV
Sad day for @Arsenal with Arsene leaving, can we now give him the send off/respect he deserves?!! #rememberthetrophies
— David Seaman (@thedavidseaman) April 20, 2018
Wow! pic.twitter.com/4yED6f4N8m
— Sol Campbell (@SolManOfficial) April 20, 2018
A touching tribute by @mertesacker 🙌
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) April 20, 2018
#MerciArsène https://t.co/V4Mq8uh0EB
"He is, without a doubt one of the three greatest men I've met in my life"
— BBC Radio 5 live (@bbc5live) April 20, 2018
Former #Arsenal great Bob Wilson pays tribute to Arsène Wenger after the manager announced he is to step down at the end of the season
Reaction 📻👉 https://t.co/5VE3GEomjt pic.twitter.com/uncIPajHBx
Change is inevitable and at least the decision has been made before the end of the season. If the squad have any feeling for AW they will play possessed and win the Europa League! Give AW the send off he deserves!!! 👍🏿❤️⚽️ pic.twitter.com/A7Ig2dORCZ
— Kevin Campbell (@1kevincampbell) April 20, 2018
Tony Adams on Instagram
Cesc Fabregas on Instagram
Nigel Winterburn, via Sky Sports
"It doesn't surprise me if I'm quite honest. I've done a lot of work around the club in the last few years, and there is a different feel around the stadium this year.
"The last four or five league games, the crowds are well down, I think it has run its natural course. Wenger has been absolutely amazing for Arsenal Football Club. He has kept the club relatively successful, but the one thing the fans wanted him to do was to get this Premier League title challenge and that hasn't happened.
"It feels like the right time, and he will be remembered fondly at this club. I think when people look back, they will really appreciate what he has done.
"I think it's right, everyone has a clear picture from now until the end of the season, they need to win the Europa League to get into the Champions League.
"If it is Patrick Vieira, I would be delighted with that. He's learning in America, he is somebody who has been a winner with Arsenal, which is so, so important."
Paul Merson, via Sky Sports
"It’s great timing, with a massive football match coming up. I think the fans get behind him now until the end of the season.
"It’s good, everybody can pay their respects to him now, for how great he was as a manager. It’s perfect timing.
"You didn’t want it to fizzle out, not have a good performance against West Ham. You didn’t want him to drift away.
"It gives the fans the chance to pack the Emirates between now and the end of the season.
"He is a legend, legend is used loosely in football, but at Arsenal he is a legend, there’s no doubt about that."
And the best of the rest...
Arsene Wenger built the best teams that I played against in English Football .The 98 team was Amazing.The biggest compliment is that he played football that made us change the way we played against them. He now deserves the most incredible send off from all in the coming weeks.
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) April 20, 2018
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has spoken about Wenger's decision to step down as Arsenal boss at the end of the season #LFC #AFC #MerciArsène pic.twitter.com/5dXVJPI9Tu
— PA Dugout (@PAdugout) April 20, 2018
🙌 Arsene Wenger's all time best XI at Arsenal.
— Sky Bet (@SkyBet) April 20, 2018
🤔 Agree? #AFC pic.twitter.com/B3XchAIsfO
Arsene Wenger is to leave @Arsenal at the end of the season. He has given much of his life to Arsenal. He has brought much success to the club. He has given much to the game of football in our country. Merci et bonne chance, Monsieur Wenger. #Wenger
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) April 20, 2018
Arsène Wenger, thank you for all the achievements, over such a long period, for the club I love.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) April 20, 2018
Three Premier League titles, the unbeaten season, a record breaking seven FA Cups and revolutionising the English game. https://t.co/2jWgUsY9Nf
Every fair-minded English football fan should now be rooting for Arsenal to win the Europa League to give a man who changed the landscape of our game the send off he deserves (*now to put my tin hat on and retreat!) #Wenger
— Guy Mowbray (@Guymowbray) April 20, 2018
Respect Mister Wenger ! pic.twitter.com/RrE3qtkYcz
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) April 20, 2018
Charlie Nicholas, via Sky Sports
"Arsene is the greatest achiever at Arsenal and I include the players in there. He is an absolute genius.
"Obviously over the last few years the team as a whole has generally gone backwards. But for the amount of consistency and style this man has brought, he has been absolutely unbelievable.
"It is a sad day but I am happy because I think Arsene was taking on too much strain, it was getting to him.
"But that man there, he is the main achiever of it all and because of that, when you see the stands not quite full, I think the pain was starting to seep through to him.
"I think he was starting to realise he had a lot of quality players but he couldn't knit them together properly with the defensive frailties.
"With the money he started to spend, that was starting to really frustrate and agitate him [team not knitting together] but he has been an absolute genius.
"He has been an absolute treat for the football club, I don't know where we go to replace him, that is the hardest part.
"But it has been an absolute pleasure. All Arsenal fans get behind the man, show the respect and appreciation he deserves for what he has done for this football club. He has been absolutely outstanding."
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