Dennis Bergkamp admits he had "doubts" when Arsene Wenger took over from Bruce Rioch in 1996.
The Frenchman was relatively unknown when he arrived at Highbury having performed impressively in Japan.
But he quickly got to grips to the demands of the Premier League winning the double in his first full season.
Arsenal were the first club to challenge Manchester United's monopoly of England's top flight.
Wenger won three league titles and four FA Cups in his first decade in charge with Bergkamp pivotal to much of that.
And the Dutchman confessed, having been apprehensive at first, that the former Gunners boss quickly won him over.
He told the club’s official podcast : “I do remember it was kind of a shock they had to let Bruce go.
“We'd not had the best of seasons in 1995-96 but I think it was good enough to progress to the next season with a lot of confidence, but it wasn't meant to be.
“There was a certain period between the moment he was let go until Arsene came - I think it was a few months - which was an insecure time for me because I was remembering the lies from Italy again. I was thinking, 'OK, wait a minute, what's going to happen now?'
“There were some doubts in my mind but they were soon taken away when Arsene came in because he was the one who had a philosophy that suited my philosophy, it was the same. His philosophy suited my game and therefore there were no doubts once he took over.
“There was a good understanding and from day one we knew what we expected from each other and that's why it worked.”
