News

Wenger - Ferguson will relish retirement

Arsene Wenger expects Sir Alex Ferguson to relish his retirement - because he has plenty of interests outside of football.

The Manchester United manager will step down at the end of this season after 26 years and 25 major trophies at Old Trafford.

Ferguson will take up a new role as a director and ambassador and Wenger believes he will continue to flourish.

"He is luckier than me because he likes horses, he likes golf, so he can certainly have an interesting life again"

"He is luckier than me because he likes horses, he likes golf, so he can certainly have an interesting life again," said the Arsenal manager.

"But of course when you have been such a long time involved in every [game]… our job is always looking forward to the next game, so you are always motivated by that. At the start [of retirement] it is difficult to miss that."

Wenger was not surprised to hear that Ferguson is retiring and he understands why now is the right time for his old rival.

"I told my staff a long time ago I think that it will be Alex Ferguson's last year," he said. "So I was not completely surprised. I detected a few signs through the season that it could be his final year. There was already one of them before the season started.

"[Am I] disappointed? No, you have to respect [his decision], you have to accept that after 71 years of age he has the right to decide.

"After 26 years, he just won the championship, he knows it will be more difficult even for Man United to have the consistency they had before because there are so many teams who have financial power."