Robert Pires’s Arsenal career was littered with highlights and magic moments. Joining from Marseille in the summer of 2000, the fleet-footed French forward spent six years with us, winning two league titles and three FA Cups, scoring 84 goals in 284 appearances. 

He was named Football Writers’ Association and Arsenal Player of the Year in 2001/02, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year three times in succession. But his Gunners career also included some high-profile challenges and disappointments – most notably the cruciate ligament injury he suffered that ruled him out of the run-in to the 2001/02 double season, and the 2002 World Cup. 

He picked up where he left off after recovering, and scored the winning goal in the 2003 FA Cup final before playing a huge part in our Invincible season of 2003/04. His time in red and white came to an end in less than ideal circumstances though. 

He was the man sacrificed in the 2006 Champions League final defeat to Barcelona after Jens Lehmann was sent off just 16 minutes into the game. But as he told the matchday programme in this exclusive interview, it’s the highs that define his Arsenal career. 

I had a lot of options when I left Marseille. It was between Real Madrid, Juventus and Arsenal, so it was a big decision. A lot of people at the time, and the journalists in France, were saying it would be Madrid, because the manager wants me to start on the left with Figo on the right, so they thought the deal was closed. 

But for me the important thing when you have a choice like that is to speak to the manager. So I spoke a lot with Arsene Wenger and for me it was the right decision. He told me that Marc Overmars had left for Barcelona and he needed another player like him. 

In the end I decided to come because Arsenal is a big club, because of what Arsene told me and also because of the other French players who were already there.

It was the first time I had ever played outside of France, so it was a big change for me. My debut was to be away to Sunderland on the first day of the season, and Arsene said he wanted to put me on the bench so I could see what it was like at first. 

I was sitting next to Lauren on the bench, who had just signed as well, and I turned to him and said “This football is not for me, what are we doing here!?” 

I thought it was too strong, it was too tough. I was a bit apprehensive because I had come to Arsenal to play football, so I wanted to start. But after 15 minutes of watching the game I was like, “Wow, this is not for me!” 

That was my first reaction to the Premier League. I came on for the final 25 minutes and it was a big change from what I was used to at Marseille. Football in France is not like this. So when I came on, I just wanted to play simple football. Control the ball, pass the ball – that’s enough for me! No dribbling yet!

 To be honest it took five or six months before I got used to English football. That might seem like a long time, but you need a period of adaption. It’s a new club, and a very big club. When you play for Arsenal the target is to be champions, so it was a big difference for me.

But I received a lot of support from Arsene and of course the other players. Tony Adams was very good and helped me a lot, and Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry as well of course. A big moment for me was when I scored my first goal. It was away to Lazio in the Champions League [on October 17, 2000] and it was one of my best moments for Arsenal. 

It was a big game; we finished 1-1, it was a nice goal so it was a special moment for me. All the fans, all the journalists were saying, “When will Pires score? He scored a lot of goals in Marseille, for the national team, but it’s not good at Arsenal.” It was a big pressure for me, of course it was. 

The fans were very good with me, but it was difficult at that time because they must have been thinking, “Why have we changed Overmars for Pires?” Thierry told me he had the same when he joined the previous year. 

Whoever the new player is, when you come from a different league you have to be patient because the Premier League is very difficult and very tough. Also remember there was no VAR back then, so it was more difficult because the defenders would be very physical. I remember my first derby against Tottenham [on December 18, 2000] – wow! It was away from home and I played so badly! 

It was a really difficult game; I wasn’t prepared for that. But the next time I was ready. I scored at home against them [on March 31, 2001] and in the FA Cup semi-final, so I enjoyed playing against them after that! 

The next season [2001/02] was going very well for me, and it was a great season for Arsenal of course. We won the title and the double – it was perfect. But individually for me, no, because I got my ACL injury three months before the end of the season and the World Cup. 

It was in an FA Cup replay against Newcastle [March 23, 2002] – if we didn’t need the replay we would never have played that game. Would it have been different? Who knows, nobody knows. It was a difficult moment for me, but I think I learned a lot about myself at that time.

How to be strong mentally, how to come back to action as strong as possible. But it was a long time, more than six months. A long way! Halfway through my recovery there was a special moment when we lifted the Premier League trophy. 

I felt very privileged when the other players let me go up last to lift it. I played six seasons for Arsenal – it’s a huge club, so I feel very proud of what we did there.

I made my comeback on a Champions League night, against a French club, Auxerre – what a special night! The first time back on the pitch after my knee injury, and what I remember most is the reaction from the fans. It was at Highbury, so of course it was emotional. 

Unfortunately we lost the game 2-1, but it was a big, big moment for me personally, and I had a great reception. It was a big relief to come back, but if you have the right mentality in your head, that you are strong in your mind, and you believe in yourself, then you can reach the same level as before the injury. 

It was a lot of work for me, but it was very important to come back strongly for the team. My team-mates and Arsene helped me a lot during that period.

It’s difficult to pick one moment from this magical [invincible] season. For me what I remember most is when Patrick lifted the trophy – a big, big moment for the club, for all the players and of course the fans. 

I think the game I remember most was at home to Liverpool, when we were losing 2-1 at half time. At that moment Arsene Wenger was furious. Absolutely furious! At half time he said a lot of bad words in English! We were not playing well, he was right, and he told us he wanted a reaction. 

He kept telling us we were better than Liverpool, that we should be playing much, much better. He was really furious. Then after half time we changed. We changed our mindset. All of the players did, but especially Thierry Henry. He just said, “OK, we will win the game.” Then he scored a hat-trick and we won 4-2! 

I scored the equaliser for 2-2, but you know when you play just behind Thierry Henry, or Dennis Bergkamp, or Kanu – to be honest the football becomes easy! I scored at White Hart Lane the day we won the league as well, but for me that day was more for the fans. 

We were very, very happy to become champions but for the fans? Wow! The rivalry between the fans, to win the league there. We are champions, at White Hart Lane – it’s official!