Arsene Wenger has revealed he turned down the chance to become manager of France "several times" during his reign as Arsenal boss.
The legendary Frenchman ended a 21-year stint with the Gunners last summer and has been out of work ever since, although he's expected to return to the game in some capacity soon.
Wenger has now admitted he had plenty of chances to leave north London to take up the top job with his national team.
But he opted against leading Les Bleus as he remained happy at the Emirates right until the very end - and he says they are currently in good hands under their manager Didier Deschamps.
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Wenger told Le Parisien: "Today, I miss the competition and at the same time, I want to spend time with the people I love, and my coaching career has completely absorbed me.
"Even when I was physically with my loved ones, I was not completely there.
"I could have become coach of the French team. I have been offered the job several times, but I liked my job more.
"Today, Les Bleus are in very good hands, [Didier] Deschamps is doing a very good job and there is no reason for it to change."
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Wenger has been linked with the Paris Saint-Germain role since leaving Arsenal but has also been reported to have been offered a role with Fifa.
He has responded to talk of eventually managing PSG - and backed them to overcome their Champions League struggles.
"I do not know if I will come to PSG one day," he stated. "PSG have a great team, but they have a sort of curse in the Champions League, and they have one last hurdle to overcome, but they will do it one day," he said.
"We must give them time, but we must recognise that this year there is an exaggerated impatience on the part of supporters."
