Martin Edwards autobiography: Arsene Wenger was my top choice to succeed Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager
A NINE-YEAR trophy drought, calamitous transfer business and European failure would have been hard to stomach at Old Trafford after the glory years of Fergie.
But if Arsene Wenger’s recent record is anything to go by, that could have been Manchester United’s lot had they lured the Frenchman in 2002.
United’s attempts to poach Wenger from Arsenal are revealed by former chairman Martin Edwards in his new autobiography Red Glory: Manchester United and Me.
Alex Ferguson had announced he would be quitting at the end of the 2001/02 season so United approached the Gunners boss.
But Fergie performed a dramatic U-turn in February 2002.
Edwards, though, says he was quietly confident of landing Wenger.
He revealed: “Our first choice was Arsene.
“Since joining Arsenal in 1996 Wenger had been pretty successful, especially in his first full season in charge when he won the Double.
“And while it’s true to say he suffered hard times since, at the time we thought he was the best candidate to replace Alex.
“Certainly he was my number one choice. So we made our approach and Wenger did show a little bit of interest, enough to want to meet Peter Kenyon and me at his house in London to listen to what we had to say.
“In fact, we had a couple of meetings with him and for a while we thought there was a possibility of him joining us.
“But I think Wenger felt loyalty to David Dein.
“He was very close to David and that was the reason he gave us in the end for turning down United.
“He felt he had started something with Arsenal and that his attachment to the club was too great, he didn’t want to break that bond.”
Sven-Goran Eriksson, then boss of England, was even closer.
The Swede agreed terms with Red Devils chiefs before seeing his deal halted as Ferguson made his U-turn.
However, Edwards admits to having reservations over Eriksson’s big-spending approach.
He added: “To be truthful, I wasn’t 100 per cent sure he was the right man for the job.
“Yes, he’d had a bit of success and a good track record, but he’d spent a lot in achieving success. And he was unproven in English club football.”
It was not to be anyway as Fergie changed his mind and led United to further glory.
But although the trophies continued to pour in, it was not always smooth behind the scenes.
Edwards admitted to having a fractious relationship with Fergie at times during his tenure — and their disagreements were normally regarding the manager’s salary.
One bust-up involved Ferguson threatening to BOYCOTT the Wembley walk-out at the 1996 FA Cup final with Liverpool.
Edwards writes: “At the close of the 1994-95 season Alex was still aggrieved over being paid less than George Graham, and although we’d won nothing that year he asked me for another pay rise.
“The issue wasn’t resolved to Alex’s liking. In the days leading up to the FA Cup final in 1996 the question of his salary raised its head again. I left the negotiations to director of football Maurice Watkins and chairman Roland Smith.
“I heard later that things had got very heated and Alex, frustrated at what had been offered, threatened not to perform the manager’s traditional Cup final role of leading his team out on the Wembley pitch.
“I don’t believe there was any real possibility of Alex walking out on United over his pay dispute with us, but I think the FA smelt blood in the water and as a result wanted Alex to replace Terry Venables as England manager.
“A Scotsman managing England! No chance.”
MORE FROM MARTIN EDWARDS' AUTOBIOGRAPHY
- Martin Edwards on Eric Cantona’s amazing confidence, regrets over Zinedine Zidane and wasting money on Juan Sebastian Veron
- Martin Edwards: My role in David Beckham meeting Victoria, poaching Ryan Giggs from Man City and when Paul Ince met 007
Despite their ups and downs, Edwards is adamant Fergie would not have had the success he did without his backing.