LONDON (AP):

Thirteen years after he was greeted with the headline "Arsene Who?", Arsene Wenger made Arsenal history yesterday.

Having arrived in English football a virtual unknown, he is now the longest-serving manager of one of the world's most famous clubs.

Wenger has overtaken George Allison to reach the milestone of 4,749 days in charge and is as revered at the club as Herbert Chapman, the manager who led the Gunners to three straight league titles in the 1930s.

Three weeks short of his 60th birthday, Wenger could be forgiven for thinking about retirement after winning three Premier League and four FA Cup titles, leading Arsenal through an entire league campaign without a defeat and also to a Champions League final.

Thierry Henry, one of the players Wenger turned into a big star at Arsenal, said the manager he first met at AS Monaco had a magical ability to get the best out of them.

"The boss has been tremendous for Arsenal Football Club. Arsenal was well known for being a boring team and I think he turned that as soon as he arrived there," the Barcelona striker said yesterday.

"He's just amazing. He's the type of guy that makes you realise you can do anything you want if you really want to. He has that thing about him that, whenever players go to Arsenal, they just suddenly become better."

Despite his successes, Wenger refuses to dwell on the past.

Main rivals

He is out to prove to the world that he can win titles with the team of young Arsenal players he has carefully nurtured since they arrived at the club, some of them barely out of school.

While his main rivals think nothing about spending about 30 million pounds (US$48 million) on a new player, Wenger is keeping the Arsenal cheque book shut, stoically relying on his methods and the potential of these youngsters.

"When you look at the players who did not play tonight," the Frenchman said Wednesday after his side beat Olympiakos 2-0 to make it two wins in two Champions League group games, "you see why we are not desperate (to buy).

"Now that the club has announced good financial results, people want me to splash it out straight away."

Wenger was rejected by the Gunners a year before he arrived in October 1996, when foreign coaches were rare in English football.

"I believe they had already made up their mind when they interviewed me the first time," he said. "They gave the job to Bruce Rioch and maybe he was a better candidate at the time. I went to Japan (to coach Grampus Eight) and I was not disappointed at all because I had a fantastic time there. I decided only to come back to Europe for a big club."

Within two years of taking over, had led the Gunners to the league and FA Cup double.

It was the start of an amazing era as Wenger's Arsenal became one of the most creative and imaginative teams in the game, slicing through even the meanest defences with mesmerising passes and scoring memorable goals.