Dennis Bergkamp named his best-ever Arsenal teammate, he claimed it was an ‘impossible’ decision

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Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp is one of the greatest players in the history of the club, and he has played alongside some legends of the game.

Bergkamp was the highest-profile signing Arsenal had made when he arrived from Inter Milan in 1995, and as an International superstar for the Netherlands and a legend at Ajax, he featured alongside some of the greatest players of all time.

The Dutchman won three Premier League titles at Arsenal, and was part of the Invincibles side which won the league undefeated in 2004.

It is tough to pick out who the best player Bergkamp played alongside, and even he struggled to single out one of many superstars, but he named his best-ever teammate, and it was one of his Arsenal colleagues.

Dennis Bergkamp labels Thierry Henry as his best-ever teammate

Speaking to Arsenal club media in 2020, Bergkamp claimed that whilst it was difficult to single anyone out from the Invincibles, Thierry Henry was the best of all of his teammates.

“I find it very difficult to say [who was the best],” Bergkamp stated.

“I was lucky enough to play with the back four we had during the beginning of my career at Arsenal because I’ve never seen that. A back four and a goalkeeper that was so connected with each other, it was amazing!

“Of course, you could go for the obvious best player like Thierry Henry, which is probably true because he was the most gifted player I’ve seen. I saw it not only in games but in training sessions, most of the time it seemed like he was training at 70 per cent or 80 per cent and he was still by far the best player.

The incredible quality of Arsenal’s Invincibles

A lot of Arsenal’s Invincibles side get overshadowed by both Bergkamp and Henry, but he has praised several of his former teammates as some of the best he has featured alongside.

“It was a ridiculous time because he was so good. I played with Patrick Vieira who was a player who could change games, even in those days he would change the whole midfield by himself.

“Everyone knows his first game when he came on at half-time and he completely changed the game, how can you compare those players to each other? Henry to Vieira? Or to the back four? I find it very difficult… Pires? What a player he was. Freddie Ljungberg? Maybe he wasn’t the most gifted player but how effective, how decisive was he? The defenders who came after like Kolo Toure or Sol Campbell?

“As I said, I’ve been lucky to play with a lot of good players but to name the best player, it is really difficult. It’s impossible. Each and everyone in their own position was very important to the team.”

Arsenal’s Invincibles were not only a perfectly well-balanced side of attacking flair and defensive steel, but individually, the players were world-class within their own right.

The likes of Ashley Cole, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires were some of the best players in the world in their positions, but Bergkamp and Henry were so good that they were still in their shadow at times, and Pires also named Bergkamp as his best-ever teammate.

It is no surprise therefore, that Bergkamp had such a hard time selecting from his teammates, especially given that he played alongside the likes of Jaap Stam, Patrick Kluivert, and Clarence Seedorf for the Netherlands.