Diego Maradona should be forgiven for “every stupid thing” he did, according to Arsene Wenger. In an interview from May this year, former Arsenal manager Wenger paid tribute to Maradona following his illustrious career.
Maradona died on Wednesday at the age of 60 following a cardiac arrest.
The Argentina legend will be remembered as one of the greatest footballers of all time.
His career and life outside football was littered with controversy, from the Hand of God to his use of recreational drugs.
But Wenger thinks that should all be forgotten when discussing Maradona.
“He was an artist with all the excesses of an artist,” Wenger told beIN SPORTS in May.
“And a genius as well but in his own world. Somewhere, we all would have loved to be Maradona.
“Somewhere as well you forgive him for every stupid thing he has done in his life because he is like he is, he is a whole and he is genuine.”
Wenger managed Maradona in a charity game, Match for Peace, in Rome in 2014.
And the Frenchman has great memories from their time together.
“I had the pleasure to coach him when he was over 50 and he could not walk properly,” Wenger added.
“But when he got the ball to his feet, he was magical.
“Everybody on the field, he played with [Roberto] Baggio, [Alessandro] Del Piero, they all gave him the ball.”
But Wenger says until Messi wins a World Cup, he will always be second best to Maradona.
“It is strange because today, they still have the best player in the world, Argentina,” Wenger continued.
“But he could not deliver that World Cup to Argentina and you feel, even Messi knows, that as long as he doesn’t do that, he will live in the shadow of Maradona.”