When Arsene Wenger walked into English football with that statuesque gait and professorial manner, the headlines were unanimous: 'Arsene who?'

Tomorrow, the Frenchman clocks up 4,749 days in charge of Arsenal, eclipsing the reign of George Allison in the 1930s and 1940s to become the longest-serving manager in the club's history. On the way, he has won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and taken the Gunners to the UEFA Champions League final.

Unquestionably, Wenger is the most successful foreign manager to have plied his trade in English football, and no-one has done more to enhance the pleasing nature of the sport. No teams have played prettier and more intricate patterns than Arsenal. No sides have embraced the notion of football as a thinking man's game.

It did not exactly start that way. On day one, he strode into Highbury and shrewdly recognised the worth of meticulous organisation and the solidity of a defence which included captain Tony Adams, Steve Bould, Nigel Winterburn and Lee Dixon. All ageing, all past their best. All who might have been moved on swiftly by another manager.

But all Arsenal through and through and prepared to give the last drop of sweat and blood, if necessary, for the cause. And, more importantly, for a man they knew little about. They became the foundations of the Wenger dynasty, one to which he added fripperies as the years went by.

Bargain hunter
Wenger's greatest quality, however, is his ability to spot bargain talents who fit into the Arsenal way. From Patrick Vieira, a snip at £3.5m from AC Milan in 1996, to Robert Pires, a £6m bargain from Marseille in 2000 to current playmaker Cesc Fabregas, who cost nothing from Barcelona in 2004.

It is also his ability to build a team around men such as Thierry Henry, £10m in 1999, who was converted from a winger with potential into the forward supreme. Cristiano Ronaldo might be some people's idea of the greatest player to grace the Premier League but for many, no-one lit up the league as consistently brilliantly for as long as the French attacker.

No, Wenger does not share a drink with other managers at the end of the match. He has become increasingly tense and eccentric on the touchline in recent years as his attempt to topple Manchester United and Ferguson increasingly has failed. There is little love lost between the two even now, with Wenger weeks from turning 60 and Ferguson nearer to 70.

Until Wenger is able and prepared to spend on the scale of United and Chelsea, however, it is unlikely Arsenal fans will celebrate another league title anytime soon. For fans that must be frustrating.

For Wenger, however, it will always be about managing his way to success rather than buying it and in a world where money rules and often ruins everything that is commendable. His greatest success? Arsenal's 'Invincibles' who went unbeaten in the league in 2004, a feat which might never be repeated.

His biggest let-down? Two actually. Losing 2-1 to Barcelona in the Champions League final of 2006 and being dismantled by Manchester United in the semi-final at the Emirates last season.

It is that inabilty to land Europe's top trophy which stands in Wenger's way of greatness. No-one, however, can deny that he was the trailblazer for a coterie of foreign managers such as Jose Mourinho, Gerard Houllier, Rafael Benitez and Carlo Ancelotti, who have brought colour and rich variety to the Premier League.

Without Wenger they might never have come. That perhaps is his greatest gift to English football.