Wenger jokes old stars look 'fitter than when they played' during Game4Ukrain

Arsene Wenger has praised the fitness levels of some his former Arsenal players as they participated in a charity game, joking that some look in better shape now than they did when they played under the former Gunners boss.

Wenger was speaking pitchside as manager of 'Team Zinchenko' during Saturday's Game4Ukraine charity event, which is raising money in aid of those affected by the war in Ukraine.

The Frenchman was tasked with taking charge of a slew of his former Arsenal stars, including Jens Lehman, Robert Pires, Gael Clichy, Gilberto Silva and Jack Wilshere.

In the opening stages of the game, Wenger was interviewed by pitchside reporter Andrew Mensah, who asked the legendary manager what he thought about what he had seen so far from his troops.

With Wenger seemingly impressed with his team and even joked at the fitness levels of some of his former stars.

'I'm enjoying the game, these guys look quite fit and it's quite balanced overall. I see my former players are all fit - some of them are fitter than when they played!'. Wenger quipped.

'It's good to watch them because it makes me remember when I had them as players. They have not lost their touch, their decision making, it's still there, and for most of them the body responds well.'

Wenger was facing current Chelsea Women's boss Emma Hayes in the opposite dugout, who took charge of Team Shevchenko and boasted some stellar names herself.

As well as the former Ukraine striker, the blue side included names such as Samuel Eto'o, Fabio Cannavaro, Gianfranco Zola and Joe Cole.

There were also a collection of celebrities involved, including Russell Howard, Ralf Little, James Arthur representing the blue side and Roman Kemp, Phil Dunster, Tom Grennan under the eye of Wenger.

It was Mark Noble who opened the scoring at Stamford Bridge, before Clarence Seedorf wound back the years by smashing in a shot from the edge of the box to level the tie at 1-1.

Former Croatian defender Darijo Srna- who played the majority of his career in Ukraine with Shakhtar Donetsk - then put Arsene Wenger's team ahead in the charity event, before William Gallas equalised for the Blues.

The first aim of the Game4Ukraine is to raise funds to help rebuild the Mykhailo-Kotsiubynskyi School in Chernihiv Oblast.

The school was shelled by Russian troops on March 4 in 2022, with a missile striking the first and second floors.