The French defender later made the switch to Manchester City in 2011, going on to win two further Premier League titles. During his final season at the Etihad Stadium in 2016-17, Clichy got the chance to witness Guardiola's meticulous coaching methods first-hand, and has now revealed which manager he believes had a greater impact on English football.

The 40-year-old, who is now looking to enter management himself, praised Guardiola for taking City to new heights, and considers himself lucky to have worked with him. However, in an interview with former Manchester United and Wrexham goalkeeper Ben Foster, Clichy said it was Wenger who changed the game more after first arriving in north London in 1996.

"Arsene changed the game when he arrived, with a vision that nobody had in England," he said on the Fozcast podcast. "Also Arsene had a club with history. I'm not saying City didn't have history, but really in the last ten or 12 years, he [Pep] has given City a glow up.

"Now, it's one of the clubs that everybody wants to join, but it's always easier to come into a club that needs everything to be written. When Arsene arrived, he had players that had already won something.

"It's very similar but at the same time, very different. Pep is not the one [who had the biggest impact], because the one is Arsene, and it will always be Arsene. He's the one that gave me my chance."

Clichy left City in 2017 and later went on to play for Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir and Swiss outfit Servette, before retiring from playing in 2023. He has since moved into coaching and spent two years working as an assistant with France's Under-21s before recently leaving to pursue life as a head coach.

Despite citing Wenger as having the bigger influence on his career, Clichy wishes he could have played under Guardiola for longer and credits the Catalan for inspiring him to become a manager.

"I've been lucky, because I love the game so much, to have met Pep in my last year at City," he said. "I never really considered being a coach, even though I always had a good relationship with young players, but seeing him working...I said to myself, 'if being a coach is like this, then I want to try.'"

He added: "I feel that this one year of working under Pep was not enough, because I would have loved to have met him before. He could have made me a better player.

"We will never know but at the same time, I'm glad he didn't because then it triggered my curiosity [in coaching]."

Clichy recently revealed he has already received offers from clubs in Europe and the United States to become their manager. However, his goal is to complete his UEFA Pro Licence with the Football Association of Wales in December before making the step up.

'I played for Pep Guardiola and Arsene Wenger but one manager transformed English football more' - The Mirror