Wenger hails 'exceptional' Sir Alex

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has hailed the impact Sir Alex Ferguson has had on Manchester United and on football in general in his 26-year tenure as the manager of the Red Devils.

Ferguson and Wenger are representatives of the golden era of the rivalry between the two clubs in late 1990s and early 2000s, when Arsenal challenged United’s supremacy and the likes of Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane only added fuel to fire. Paying his tribute to the Scotsman on Arsenal’s official website, Wenger said:

“I would just like to pay tribute to an unbelievable achievement and a fantastic career. Basically the achievement is immaculate, when you look at the whole structure and consistency of the achievement. It is, of course, something exceptional.

“It is difficult to imagine English football without him, but it’s now a reality and a fact. Of course the next manager has to fill in and show he has the dimension to do that. It is a big task for the guy who comes in.”

David Moyes has been confirmed as the man to take United forward from next season after the Everton manager signed a six-year long deal at Old Trafford but Wenger believes he will face a tough task ahead, adding that replacing a person of Ferguson’s stature is never easy:

“What you can say still is that Manchester United are commercially and financially one of the strongest two or three clubs in the world, and that is still a good basis to start when you come in because you know the players are there, the team is there, and the potential is there.

“They have developed very well and they are in a very, very strong position to deal with the problem they face. But of course it’s a great void to fill for Manchester United, because the charisma and personality disappears suddenly in a club which has been dominated by it for such a long time. It’s not an easy task to replace a person like that.”