I’m a former Arsenal star who played with Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho & Kaka – but England legend blew me away in training
NOT many players can say they’ve played amongst some of the true greats of the game.
And even fewer can say that despite brushing shoulders with Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho and Kaka, it was David Beckham that left them the most impressed.
Former Arsenal and AC Milan star Philippe Senderos was blown away by ex-teammate Beckham when the pair would train together.
Senderos played alongside Becks during his days in Milan with the pair both spending a brief spell on loan at the Italian giants.
But the time be remembers being most taken aback by Beckham’s talent was when the former England captain joined Arsenal for some pre-season training.
Beckham was on the books at LA Galaxy at the time, but in January of 2008 he returned to the UK during the MLS off-season to spend three weeks training with Arsene Wenger‘s Arsenal side.
During that brief spell at London Colney he did enough to leave Senderos in awe of his control and passing range.
Speaking to TalkSPORT, the 57-time Switzerland international said: “Obviously they were all world-class and top [the players I played with].
“But the best player in training, they all had great quality and everything, David Beckham for me was unbelievable in training.
“His application, what he would do every single day to prepare himself and be one of the best performers at the weekend, David Beckham.”
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He added: “I remember him once coming to Arsenal to do like a pre-season, we were doing long balls with [Gael] Clichy.
“There was a triangle, Clichy, myself and David Beckham, we were practising long balls, right foot, left foot, 30/40-yard balls for half an hour.
“He did not miss one ball, every single one would just get right to your foot, one metre from the floor, like really perfect balls.
“When he missed the first one, we both stopped and said, ‘Okay, that’s it!’”
Senderos, who made 117 appearances for the Gunners, went on to have spells with Everton, Fulham, Valencia and Aston Villa before hanging up his boots in 2020 with Swiss club FC Chiasso.
Beckham on the other hand finished his career in Paris with PSG and has since gone on to form his own MLS club Inter Miami.