Bayern Munich star David Alaba reveals he was an ardent Arsenal fan

Bayern Munich star David Alaba has admitted he supported Arsenal while growing up and revealed Gunners legends Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas and Patrick Vieira were his favourite players at the north London club. The defender, however, ruled out any possibility of making a switch to England this summer.

He came up through the ranks of the Bundesliga outfit's youth setup, before breaking into their first team in 2010. He has been a regular inclusion in the German champions' starting line-up in recent years and featured in various positions when Pep Guardiola was in charge at the Allianz Arena.

Carlo Ancelotti replaced the Spaniard at Bayern as Guardiola joined Manchester City this summer. Alaba went on to thank the former Barcelona coach as the Austrian international suggested that he has improved as a player under his guidance.

Despite heaping praise on his former manager, the 24-year-old ruled out rejoining Guardiola at the Etihad as well.

"At the moment I'm not thinking like that. I'm happy here and just want to concentrate on the new season. The Premier League is a great league and when I was this small (puts hands by his knees) I was a Gunners fan," Alaba told the Daily Mail.

"My favourites were Henry, Fabregas but the best was Vieira, for sure. I went to Highbury once when I was small, maybe six years old. My parents took me. The game was against West Ham, I think. Arsenal won. I remember that, for sure. They always won!"

Alaba was part of the Bayern squad that last won the Champions League beating rivals Borussia Dortmund in the final at Wembley in 2013. Guardiola failed to guide the Bavarians to European glory and the defender remains hopeful to win Europe's elite club competition under Ancelotti this season.

"We don't talks about our goals but, of course, the Champions League is always a dream. These are moments that last forever. What we do now, training and working hard, is so we have a chance of winning this tournament and making the dreams come true," the Austrian explained.