It turned out to be a fateful day when I met Arsene at half-time during a north London derby at Highbury in 1989. It was a sliding-doors moment — the stars aligned.
Arsene was passing through London. He was manager of Monaco at the time and had been scouting a player and was on his way back to the Principality.
With a day to spend in transit, the only thing he wished to do was watch a football game. He got in touch with Glenn Hoddle’s agent, Dennis Roach, and asked if he could find him a ticket to a match in London.