Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed he now has a 'terrific relationship' with Arsene Wenger, despite both men having a fierce rivalry from their time managing Manchester United and Arsenal respectively across a span of almost two decades.
Ferguson, who has won nine more Premier League titles than any other manager in the league's history, and Wenger were named in the Premier League Hall of Fame on Wednesday morning, becoming the first managers to be inducted.
Both managers played their part in defining a glorious era in the Premier League and their rivalry, which became fierce in the late 1990s and early 2000s, made for memorable and explosive encounters between the two sides.
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However, the pair have put their differences aside in the years since they retired and, speaking in an interview to celebrate his induction into the Premier League's Hall of Fame, Ferguson opened up on his duels with Wenger.
"I didn’t know him [Wenger]. He had been in Japan," he told the Premier League. "It was a big decision for [Arsenal vice-chairman] David Dein. It was a good decision. He’d been a successful manager at Monaco
"When you look at his track record, you’re not surprised he got the Arsenal job. But, to come from Japan threw me off anyway, because I’m saying: “Who is he?” But he transformed the club fantastically. Arsenal were a hard team to play against.
"They were the team that we had to beat. I always looked in the side-mirror to see who’s coming from behind us."
Ferguson also opened up about their 'terrific' relationship, which has evolved since they stopped managing.
"We have a terrific relationship. It's amazing because obviously we didn’t converse [while managing]," he added. "He had his job, I had my job. There's no doubt that we both wanted to win and both displayed that in the way our teams played the games against each other.
"But over the years, through the UEFA meetings in Switzerland, Arsene and I go for dinner together in a little restaurant he knows well. I enjoy his company. He's a really interesting man. But it is still my job to pick the wine!"
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