"I was always fascinated by India" - Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger on the footballing prospect in the country

Legendary Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who is currently the Chief of Global Football Development at FIFA, is on a three-day visit to India in connection with the AIFF-FIFA Academy to be inaugurated in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.

Along with AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey and Acting General Secretary Satyanarayan M, Wenger visited the Football House on Monday for an interaction with heads of a select group of football academies from across the country. The ambition of the academy being set up in Odisha is to unearth the evident footballing talent in the country and nurture them.

Wenger, who is often regarded as the 'professor' for his eclecticism, discussed the immense potential that he saw in India to eventually become an Asian footballing powerhouse.

"I would say I was always fascinated by India. My target is to improve football in the world. And it is impossible that a country like India, 1.4 billion, is not on the football world map," the former manager said during the meeting on Monday.

“I believe you have huge assets, fantastic qualities that make me very optimistic about what you can do here. It is absolutely fantastic to have that opportunity. And with my team, we are really highly motivated to help this country develop in the game. I'm convinced that it's possible in the very short term,” the Frenchman added.

Before moving to Arsenal, Wenger was coaching at Nagoya Grampus in Japan and he cited the example of how the East Asian country has now evolved into one of the Asian heavyweights. He underlined that with proper structure at the grassroots, it's possible for India to realize their World Cup dreams.

“I was in Japan at the start of their football in 1995. In 1998, they were at the World Cup. So that means it is possible. You have to start early," Wenger said.

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"My main target is to convince people that there is a gold mine here" - Arsene Wenger on his aspirations with Indian football

Arsene Wenger further underlined that the purpose of his and his team from the FIFA Talent Development Scheme would be to convince people about the incredible talent pool on offer in India.

"My main target here is to convince people that there is a gold mine here but at the moment it is not completely explored, exploited, and encouraged,” he explained.

The 74-year-old also discussed the pillars that would elevate India's footballing potential. Wenger underlined that players before the age of 15 need technical development more than anything else.

“What will football be like in 2030? How can we imagine what our needed quality is in 2030? But what is for sure, is where we start with technique. Football is a technical sport. We have to equip the players from five to 15 with the best possible capacity to be technically at the top. That means, basically, to make it simple, is to make the ball his friend. The rest can be developed later. And this is absolutely vital," he explained.

“So, this is where we have to start and that's where we want to help people to make young players technically perfect. The start of our programme is to identify the talent and then put the best talents together,” the French tactician added.

Considering Wenger's renowned pedigree, his input will be invaluable to the AIFF and Indian football for charting the upcoming course of footballing structure in the country.