ROBERT PIRES has been hailed for his unusual training ground role at Arsenal.
The Gunners legend returned to the club after retiring to help some of the squad’s younger stars.
GettyRobert Pires returned to Arsenal to help the club’s younger stars[/caption]
Pires was a member of Arsenal’s Invincibles side during the 2003/04 season.
He later came back to North London in 2016 in a coaching capacity after hanging up his boots.
Ex-Arsenal full-back Carl Jenkinson has revealed Pires would step in as an extra man during training drills for players returning from injury.
The Frenchman had been Jenkinson’s hero growing up before he made the move to Arsenal.
“What a guy,” he told The Athletic. “Now he is a proper Arsenal legend.
“He’d come in and help out the rehab lads coming back from injury. We’d be doing mannequin drills and he would be an extra number. He was still top class.”
Pires spent six years with Arsenal between 2000 and 2006, scoring 85 goals in 284 appearances.
He also won seven major trophies, including a Premier League and FA Cup double in 2002.
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As for Jenkinson, he joined the Gunners from Charlton in 2011 and remained with the club for eight years.
During that time he scored once from right-back in 70 appearances and won a single England cap.
The 31-year-old now plays in Australia for the Newcastle Jets following spells with Nottingham Forest and Melbourne City.
Carl Jenkinson has praised his Gunners heroGetty – Contributor