<
>

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger: 'The core of the team has to be from 23 to 30'

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has acknowledged having too much youth could be a detriment to side's title hopes.

Wenger, who recently celebrated 20 years as Arsenal manager, has been known over his tenure for providing opportunities to academy products and young players.

However, the Frenchman was frank about ideal age of a team looking to be crowned champions, telling the club's website the core contributors should be between 23-30 years old.

"To be a real football player, you need to be 23 years old because before you have learned your job, you can have a great game and after, sometimes an average game," Wenger said.

"You can have one or two exceptional talents, like at the moment we have Hector Bellerin and Alex Iwobi, but the core of the team has to be from 23 to 30.

"If you look at the national teams, you never win a tournament with a young team, because it's more mental at some stage to win something big.

"You need to have a certain level of experience."