It's time for Arsene Wenger to leave Arsenal says 'Invincible' Gilberto Silva

The Brazilian was central to Wenger’s finest hour – the 2003/04 unbeaten season – and believes it is now the right time for his former boss to leave

Gilberto Silva feels the time has come for Arsene Wenger to walk away from Arsenal (Getty)

Arsene Wenger has been told to walk away from Arsenal by one of his own ‘Invincibles’.

Pressure is mounting on the Frenchman to finally call it a day and leave the club at the end of the season.

Anything other than a record comeback against Bayern Munich will see the Gunners tumble out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage for the seventh consecutive season while more trouble domestically could see them miss out on the top four for the first time in Wenger’s tenure.

Gilberto Silva was central to Wenger’s finest hour – the 2003/04 unbeaten season – and believes it is now the right time for his former boss to leave.

“I feel that the time has come,” he told Sport360. “The more the past is coming to a close, the more his time is coming – not because he can’t do the job any longer, but, perhaps because the other clubs have changed their way of working, the way of doings things.

“He hasn’t changed much, he hasn’t changed his way of working – not, because he doesn’t want to, but it is not so easy to compete with clubs who spend a lot of money every season.”

The likes of Antonio Conte, Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino have come to the Premier League in recent years and presented Wenger with a new challenge, one Silva feels he is failing to overcome.

“Wenger has spent a lot more years than them in the Premier League,” he added. “They are younger and motivated and they have a lot of energy to look around and source ways to win against Wenger.

“He has his own way of working, in which he believes. Irrespective of whether you are either a young or an old coach, you have to believe in something, and that's what he does.”