Arsenal hero Ian Wright has revealed he plans to watch Gunners ace Charlie Patino live in the flesh when he quits Match of the Day. Wright will leave his role as a pundit on the BBC’s flagship football show more than 20 years after he became a regular fixture for the corporation.
Wright bagged 170 goals in 272 appearances for Arsenal during his playing days after making his name at Crystal Palace and also found the back of the net nine times in 33 games for England.
The former striker made his debut on Match of the Day in 1997 while he was still a player and was then handed a permanent role on the programme in 2000. He left the BBC in 2008 but returned in 2015 and has featured alongside presenter Gary Lineker and fellow pundits such as Alan Shearer and Danny Murphy.
And discussing his future weekend plans, the 60-year-old told the Wrighty’s House podcast: “When you speak to players, even on Instagram, like Charlie Patino. I’ve promised Charlie I want to go and watch him. You speak to them. And I want to watch them.”
Patino progressed through the Arsenal academy after joining the club from Luton in 2015. The 20-year-old has only featured twice for the Gunners first team but is currently enjoying a loan spell with Championship club Swansea after excelling during a temporary stint with Blackpool last season.
The midfielder is set to return to the Emirates Stadium at the end of the campaign and could finally be given a chance to break into the Arsenal first team by Gunners manager Mikel Arteta next season. And Wright appears to be eager to see the ace in action after previously watching video footage of him.
“I’m going to actually watch more football,” Wright added. “I’m going to watch my granddaughter [Raphaella Wright Phillips]. I’m going to watch a lot more women’s games down at Boreham Wood. I want to watch more Arsenal games, just to be there with family. I’ll go with my son and his missus, just go and be with them and be amongst it – just to celebrate when we win or when we lose.
“And spend a bit more time with my missus Nance because she has to do so much on a weekend with two girls who are getting to an age where they have to be up and down all over the place. So I just want to be a bit more present on that.
“I want to take Nance to more games. I want to see if I can watch my grandson [D’Margio Wright-Phillips] play as well. He needs a bit more support now. It’s kind of fallen off a little bit for him. He’s at Stoke. It’s been a bit of a realisation because I’ve got so many cool things happening. And I just want to give quality time to them.”
