Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has spoken of bringing the great George Weah to Europe.

Wenger signed Weah in 1988 when he was in charge of Monaco. Seven years later the Liberian striker became the only African player to win the Ballon d'Or.

"It was an unbelievable story that would make a book in itself," he told arsenal.com. "First I would to say that George was not only an exceptional player, George Weah was also a fantastic person and the story of how I brought him there was absolutely unbelievable.

"A friend of mine was working in Africa and I asked him whether he had seen any strikers. He recommended George Weah and I sent somebody over there to watch him. We brought him over for £50,000 and it took him a while to adapt, but he was ambitious, talented, had great hunger for work and I worked a lot with him.

"He became an absolutely unbelievable player. We still have a strong relationship and when he became World Player of the Year he gave me his award. Every manager was sitting in there - Capello, Lippi - and they were absolutely amazed that a player at his age was capable of that. He's just a remarkable person."