Abhishek Nandwani
Arsene Wenger opens up on relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson and why he snubbed Manchester United offer
Talking on Arsene Wenger: Invincible documentary (h/t Mirror), former Arsenal boss revealed about his ‘toxic’ relationship between himself and former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
The two managers had a frosty relation during the 17 years they spent as opponents in the Premier League. Ferguson was already a dominant figure when Wenger was hired by Arsenal in 1996 and he suddenly tasted success in England and started giving United and Fergie a run for the money. Since then the duo gave each other hard times on the sidelines and even in press conferences.
The Frenchman won three league titles — including two Doubles in 1997-98 and 2001-02 during his time at the north London club. He was seen as one man who broke United domination at the helm and that made the relationship between both of them even more frosty.
Talking to Arsene Wenger: Invincible documentary (h/t Mirror), the Frenchman said:
“Alex Ferguson was the dominant figure in English football. Everyone was scared of him, from the press to the referees. I was ready for the fight.”
Ferguson, who had plans to retire at the end of 2001-02 season, only to change his mind later on had revealed that the Red Devils had approached Wenger to succeed him. However, Wenger was not interested in the job because of his loyalty towards then Arsenal chairman David Dein.
Dein resigned in 2007 after new owner Stan Kroenke took over as the club owner. Thinking about that time Wenger said (h/t Mirror):
“I still today wonder if I did the right thing, because life was never exactly the same after [Dein’s departurez].”
“I thought I had to go to the end of this project, but I could’ve gone to the French national team, England national team twice or three times. I could’ve gone to Real Madrid twice, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, even to Manchester United.”
Ferguson spent almost 27 years in charge of Manchester United, while Wenger was at Arsenal for 22 years. The Gunners legend could have been an excellent candidate to take over from Ferguson.
A visionary in his own right, he would have brought some much needed stability to the post-Ferguson era. 20 years on, United are experiencing just that with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
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The likes of David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho all tried their hand to continue Ferguson’s winning legacy. It is not easy following in the Scot’s footsteps and all three found it out the hard way.
