Football

Arsenal legend reveals desire to land new coaching job

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Dec 09, 2023 / 1253 Views

Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp has stated his desire to return to coaching almost six years after his last job, but the three-time Premier League winner admits he wouldn't be a manager.

Bergkamp was offered a scouting role with Arsenal upon retiring as a player with the club back in 2006 and turned it down to spend time with his family. But he began a fast-track coaching diploma two years later that led to a youth role at Ajax. It eventually saw him become a first-team assistant at the club, with a focus on helping home-grown talent get established at senior level.

But a coaching clear-out the same day that Ajax hired Erik ten Hag a few days before Christmas 2017 saw Bergkamp and other lose their jobs. He hasn't actively worked in Football since.

"I'm itching to get back into football once more," Bergkamp, who made 423 appearances for Arsenal over 11 years, has now revealed to media in his native Netherlands.

Dennis Bergkamp is immortalised in statue form outside the Emirates Stadium / GLYN KIRK/GettyImages

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"I don't think I am good enough to be a head coach, as I don't think am sufficiently interested to want to manage everything. I respect people who can do this, but I prefer a different role - in between the youth squad and the first team. I find the best job to be in developing players. My role in acting as a bridge for youth-team players in getting to the first eleven suited me the best.

"I found this to be a great job while I was at Ajax. I saw the young prospects coming through, discussed them with the youth coaches and the academy head, and I also had the ear of the head coach. I hope for a similar role in the future if I get back into football - and I think it will happen. This is one of my chief ambitions, as I think it is something I can do well."

Although winding down his career by that time, Bergkamp was famously a member of Arsenal's Invincibles generation in 2004. Having worked under Arsene Wenger, many players who were part of that squad have since pursued coaching or managerial careers of their own - including Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Giovanni van Bronckhorst. Edu returned to the Gunners as sporting director.