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Francis Benali once said Arsenal legend was his ‘toughest opponent’ and was also a ‘complete nuisance’

Giuseppe Labellarte

Sat 19 April 2025 20:15, UK

Arsenal are one of the biggest football clubs in the world, so it’s no surprise that many of the world’s best players have turned out for them over the decades.

From the heroes of yesteryear like George Armstrong and John Radford to more contemporary icons like Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira, there are plenty of legends who have represented the club.

Arsenal’s golden era was not all that long ago, with Arsene Wenger turning the Gunners into a force to be reckoned with from the mid-1990s until the mid-2000s.

Southampton legend Francis Benali recently singled out an Arsenal icon as the toughest opponent he ever had in his career.

READ MORE: Rio Ferdinand says which club he thinks Declan Rice would have preferred to join between Arsenal and Manchester United

Francis Benali raves about Arsenal legend Ian Wright

Benali, speaking to David Seaman on Seaman Says, revealed how difficult Ian Wright was to play against.

He recalled a match between the Saints and the Gunners in the late 1990s where he decided to go rough on Dennis Bergkamp, only for it to backfire on him, much to Wright’s amusement.

Benali made a “pretty hefty challenge” on Bergkamp, who didn’t retaliate, and when he tried to do so again 10 minutes later, the Dutchman got in there first and scored.

“As I came in he he must have seen me coming over his shoulder,” recalled Benali.

“He barged into me, sent me flying on the grass, dribbled past two or three of my teammates and smashed it into the back of the net. And Ian Wright just ran past me laughing!

“There is a picture of Dennis celebrating with his arms up in the air, me almost thinking ‘what have I done’, and Ian Wright stood behind me just laughing out loud.”

Benali then recalled how Wright was not only a superb player, but also a “complete nuisance” who’d mock opposition players.

“Wrighty was something else,” said Benali. “He was probably the most difficult opponent I came up against in every sense.

“He was a complete nuisance, he’d be constantly in your ear telling you how bad you were, how useless the team was, everything like that.”

While Bergkamp would be “quiet about it”, Wright “never stopped being in your ear chatting.

“He could look after himself and he was a fabulous finisher, scored a lot of goals against us – which maybe didn’t say much for my defending at trying to stop him!”

Ian Wright’s Arsenal career

Wright is Arsenal’s second-highest goalscorer of all time, scoring 185 goals in 288 appearances for the Gunners, a tally beaten only by Henry.

With Arsenal, Wright lifted the Premier League title, two FA Cups, the League Cup, and the European Cup Winners Cup.

Wright spent six years at Crystal Palace prior to his Arsenal move.

After leaving Highbury, he played for West Ham, Nottingham Forest, Celtic and Burnley before hanging up his boots in 2000.

Wright is a popular pundit these days and is still very much active with Arsenal. Wright has been involved mentoring young players at Arsenal, and Wright is often championing the current team.