I reached Champions League final with Arsenal then changed career but Arsene Wenger is still my boss

Philippe Senderos has been recently reunited with Arsene Wenger, 14 years on from his Arsenal departure.

The Swiss former defender signed for the Gunners in 2003, snubbing interest from his Dad’s team Real Madrid and Bayern Munich after impressing with his first club Servette.

Senderos and Wenger are working together againCredit: GETTYSenderos was only 18 when he made the €3.55million [£3m] move to north London, and moved in with teenage Cesc Fabregas as the pair could both speak Spanish thanks to his Spanish father.

After retiring in 2019, he returned to Servette to serve as sporting director, but took a new job at FIFA last year – and Wenger is his manager once again.

Speaking to talkSPORT.com about his new career, Senderos – now 39 – said: “My role is called High Performance Specialist.

more on arsenal“I help federations develop long-term planning on talent development. And my boss is Arsene Wenger!”

Legendary Arsenal boss Wenger managed the Gunners from 1996 to 2018, and helped bring Senderos to the club.

Arsenal won the league three times under the Frenchman as well as seven FA Cups.

And Senderos says Wenger is just as driven in his job at FIFA as he was at Highbury and the Emirates.

Asked what it’s like to have FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development as his boss again, he said: “It’s good. He has a vision of what he wants, and we try to implement it through different programmes.

“We travel quite a lot and help different federations to develop, to bridge the gap from the top countries to the less developed ones.

“I’m working specifically in the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi, India with a colleague of mine, and in Turkey.”

Senderos won silverware with the Gunners, playing the whole finalCredit: GETTYAfter missing Arsenal’s Invincible campaign due to injury, Senderos went on to make 117 appearances for the club, scoring four goals.

Speaking about missing his first season, he said: “My first year really was a learning curve for me, you know, to join Arsenal, to move from the Swiss League to the Premier League, it’s a huge gap in quality in everything, really.

“It’s a different world, you know, so it was in a way not so bad to get injured at first, so I have a bit of time to settle down, to learn about the culture, to learn about the way things are operating and everything.

Former Arsenal and AC Milan defender Philippe Senderos rates his former teammates Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry

“And then slowly trying to find my feet and get better and hopefully get an opportunity.”

An opportunity came when Sol Campbell suffered a knee injury at the start of the 2004/05 season.

Senderos went on to win the FA Cup with the Gunners that campaign at the age of 20, with Wenger’s side beating foes Manchester United 5-4 on penalties.

He was then part of the famous Arsenal 2005/06 Champions League side that made it all the way to the final. He was on the bench when Arsenal lost 2-1 to Barcelona.

Senderos stepped up to fill Campbell’s spotCredit: GETTYArsenal kept a record 10 clean sheets on the way to the final, with Senderos helping to see off Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal and earning him a call-up to Switzerland for the World Cup in Germany.

Read More on talkSPORTThe former Swiss international went on loan to AC Milan and Everton during the latter stages of his time at Arsenal.

He left for Fulham on a free transfer in 2010. Spells with Valencia, Aston Villa, Grasshoppers, Rangers, Houston Dynamo and Swiss second tier side Chiasso followed.