EDDIE Howe was an 18-year-old Cherries centre half when Arsene Wenger was appointed Arsenal boss.

Indeed, on October 1 1996, the day Wenger reported for work in north London for the first time, Howe was replaced by striker David Town two minutes from the end of a match against Walsall, as Cherries forlornly sought a late equaliser in their League Two encounter with the Midlands team.

Twenty years later and Wenger, still in charge of the Gunners, is chasing a fourth Premier League title.

Howe, meanwhile, is broadly considered as one of the brightest managers in the English game, having hauled Cherries up from the bottom end of the Football League to the Premier League.

"I think he’s an outstanding manager," Howe told the Daily Echo, when asked about Frenchman Wenger's influence on the game in his adopted country.

"I think he has changed English football dramatically. Everyone will talk about his Invincible team (the Arsenal side that won the 2003-04 Premier League without losing a game), but a lot of the teams he has built revolutionised the game.

"They’re certainly a team I’ve analysed a lot down the years. How they play, how they get success. I think they’ve been a real marker for a lot of teams to watch and follow."

It is indicative of football's increasingly capricious nature that Howe's ongoing four-year Cherries tenure puts him second behind Wenger in a list of the Premier League's longest-serving current managers. The 38-year-old recognises, however, that by comparison with his Gunners counterpart, 28 years his senior, he is a mere novice.

"To be in the Premier League for 20 years, I think, is incredible," said Howe. "And in that time he’s not just had successes. He’s had some disappointments and he’s always come out with real dignity and handles himself brilliantly. And he’s still got the motivation. I think that’s what really amazes me. He’s still very, very determined to win the Premier League again. I’d like to see him do it."

A product of football from the era when Wenger arrived on these shores, Howe acknowledges that today's player possesses an entirely different mindset to that of their predecessor. And he believes the Arsenal manager deserves a large share of the credit for that fact.

"When you look back to when he first started, there was... it’s a stereotype, but there was a drinking culture in the game," said Howe. "Not just at Arsenal but at a lot of others clubs. And I think he was one of the first managers who tried to change that and tried to make the players more professional. He realised how important the body is to your performance.

"I think he introduced yoga and a lot of changes in the diet, which is a legacy he leaves today. I think every Premier League club, a lot of their work around the week is towards the body to make sure the players are in peak physical condition. It’s benefitted English football massively."

On whether Wenger might be the eventual long-term successor to recently deposed England manager Sam Allardyce, Howe was rather more reserved.

"Who knows?" he said. "Who knows?"