Former-Arsenal striker Dennis Bergkamp has revealed that he never wants to fly again due to a serious phobia of his and this could stop him from making a dramatic return to the Premier League side as Arsene Wenger’s replacement.
The Dutchman had been tipped as one of the potential replacements for Wenger when he finally calls it a day, but in his new book, the Ajax assistant-manager has admitted that he never wants to fly again.
Whenever The Gunners had a European tie, Bergkamp would only feature if he could get to the destination by any other means of transport and this is what could get in his way if he was to be a manager at the club.
‘It made me feel so awful and I began to develop such an aversion to it that it suddenly dawned on me: “I don’t want to do this any more”, writes the 44-year-old.
‘It got so bad I would look up at the sky during away games to see what the weather was like. Were there any clouds coming? Sometimes I was preoccupied by the flight home while I was playing football. It was hell.’
He adds: ‘I’ve flown countless times in large planes, small ones, tiny ones. At Ajax, I once flew in a minuscule plane over Mount Etna near Naples when we got into a terrible air pocket – in terms of flying, I’ve seen and done it all and I’m simply not flying again. Ever.’
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt
