Dennis Bergkamp is one of the greatest footballers to ever play for Arsenal and in the Premier League.
Rescued from a disappointing spell at Inter for £7.5m back in 1995, the Dutch star would go on to win three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and also lift the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award on one occasion thanks to his wonderful technique and killer instinct in front of goal.
After 11 seasons in north London, Bergkamp hung up his boots in 2006. His retirement was commemorated with a testimonial reuniting many former teammates at the then-newly built Emirates Stadium – a game in which Arsenal beat Ajax, his boyhood team and first professional club, 2-1.
In the programme for the game, Wenger took the time to write some words about Berkgamp to sum up his wonderful stint at the Gunners.
I was very lucky to find Dennis Bergkamp already in the squad when I arrived at Arsenal. You do not find a player like that everywhere you go. It was a blessing, a gift when I arrived. I knew of his class before I arrived of course. I remember playing against Inter as manager of Monaco when he was there, and I saw him as a young player at Ajax too, but you only really find out about a player when you work with him every day.
A lot has been said about Dennis over the years; about his class, about his intelligence – his remarkable intelligence – about his vision, basically you can never say enough about the player. The one thing which is a real example for youngsters is that Dennis – and I have worked with him for 10 years – did not lose his concentration or dedication for one minute until the last minute of his final training session. For me that is more remarkable than anything else.
He got the talent when he was born, and then developed it, but what I respect more was that every single day of his career, for 20 years, until the last minute, he never made a pass in training without thinking about it, or without putting every part of his brain into it.
That’s something that I consider virtually impossible to do, such is the level of dedication needed, but he did it, and that’s what made him not only a super-talented player, but a remarkable player who always had 100 per cent concentration throughout every session.
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That is a dream for a manager because I have seen many talented players, and some average players, give only 50 per cent concentration in training.
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