By David Kent
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Aerophobia: Bergkamp flies back from the 1994 World Cup with the Dutch national team
Any hope Arsenal fans may have had of Dennis Bergkamp one day returning to manage the club have been scuppered by the Gunners legend reiterating in his new autobiography that he will never fly again.
The Non-Flying Dutchman has been assistant to Ajax manager Frank de Boer since 2011 and has been tipped to replace long-serving Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger when he eventually calls it a day. But Bergkamp would not be able to take on a managerial role at a top European club given the need to travel long distances on a regular basis.
Bergkamp's European away days for Arsenal were restricted to fixtures in northern Europe easily accesible by road or rail while and in his book 'Stillness and Speed', adapted by the Independent, he candidly discusses his fear of flying.
Bergkamp's aerophobia dates back to 1994 and anxiety suffered while travelling around the United States by plane with the Dutch national team. He also reveals in his book the problems he faced travelling around Italy by plane when at Inter.
'It made me feel so awful and I began to develop such an aversion to it that it suddenly dawned on me: "I don't want to do this any more", writes the 44-year-old.
Legend: The Dutch forward spent 11 years at Arsenal after joining from Inter in 1995
No 2: Bergkamp now assists Frank de Boer (left) at Ajax
Italian job: Bergkamp's fear of flying developed in his two-year spell at Inter
'It got so bad I would look up at the sky during away games to see what the weather was like. Were there any clouds coming? Sometimes I was preoccupied by the flight home while I was playing football. It was hell.'
He adds: 'I've flown countless times in large planes, small ones, tiny ones. At Ajax, I once flew in a minuscule plane over Mount Etna near Naples when we got into a terrible air pocket – in terms of flying, I've seen and done it all and I'm simply not flying again. Ever.'
When Bergkamp joined Arsenal from Inter in 1995 he made the stipulation that he would no longer travel on aeroplanes.
Mentor: The Dutchman and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger embrace back in 2002
The Dutchman - who spent 11 years in north London before retiring in 2006 - also revealed that he would waive extra money when signing new contracts because of his aerophobia.
Bergkamp adds: 'In talks with Arsenal, if I said "a million" they automatically deducted a hundred grand "because you don't fly". And I accepted that.'
Bergkamp scored 120 goals for Arsenal in 423 games, while he also made 79 appearances for Holland between 1990 and 2000, scoring 37 times.
Dennis Bergkamp's book, "Stillness and Speed", is published by Simon and Schuster Sport and is out on Thursday priced 20.
Ericjimbob, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, 26 minutes ago
You've run this story in various forms many times before so why dust it off yet again now?