Arsene Wenger revealed how Arsenal’s rivalry with Manchester United really began with Sir Alex Ferguson

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Over the years, Arsenal’s clashes with Manchester United have entered the history books as one of the biggest rivalries in English football.

Much of that stemmed from the early years of the Premier League, with Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson going head-to-head for the title on several occasions.

Both walked away from the game having lifted the trophy in their career, with plenty of fond memories to come from those encounters.

To this day though, many have wondered how Arsenal and Manchester United came to be such big rivals in the past.

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Arsene Wenger explains rivalry between Arsenal and Manchester United

Arsenal and Manchester United have plenty of historic ties, with Wenger and Ferguson going up against each other on plenty of occasions.

For the former Gunners boss, his United counterpart is the manager he has faced off against the most in his career – 49 times in total.

Both managers were inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame, where their famous duels were discussed.

On the rivalry bubbling up, Wenger told Premier League productions: “Slowly they push you of course in the rivalry and I was never short of a sentence.

“That became more and more acrimonious and then more and more aggressive. Sir Alex [Ferguson] he was a lot bit the boss of England. He was the boss of the bosses.”

With Arsenal managing to get under the skin of Manchester United, those frustrations came to the fore when they battled it out for titles on the pitch.

Not many rivalries have been able to emulate that ever since in the Premier League.

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Arsene Wenger’s record against Sir Alex Ferguson

Arsene Wenger has faced Sir Alex Ferguson the most out of any manager in his career as a head coach.

The Arsenal boss took on the Manchester United legend 49 times, winning 16 of those encounters but succumbing to defeat 23 times.

While Ferguson got the superior record out of the meetings, Wenger cemented his legacy with the titles he snatched from Manchester United.

It’s a period that many will remember very fondly, with Arsenal at their very best in those years under the Frenchman.