Arsene Wenger was the top pick to replace Alex Ferguson says Man United former chairman

There are sights that many would consider unimaginable in football.

Arsene Wenger as Manchester United manager is certainly one of them.
But this was closer to happening than ever imagined according to the
former chairman of the Old Trafford outfit, Martin Edwards.

The background to this was Alex Ferguson's earlier planned retirement
from the game at the end of the 2000/2001 season, when he informed the
club that he would step down from the helm at Manchester United.

So the club's chairman at the time, beamed their search light on the
Arsenal manager, who was just five years into his reign at the club.
He was Manchester United's first choice to replace their legendary
Scot.

"Our first choice was Arsene Wenger. 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 that he
has suffered hard times since, at the time we all thought he was the
best candidate to replace Alex. Certainly, he was my number one
choice." Martin Edwards who said

"Wenger did show a little bit of interest, enough to want to meet with
both [former United chief executive] Peter Kenyon and me at his home
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 a loyalty towards [former Arsenal
vice-chairman] 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 that
he had started something with Arsenal and that his attachment to the
club was too great, he didn't want to break that bond."

However, Alex Ferguson did change his mind about retirement. He ended
up staying for a further twelve years, before retiring in 2013 after
winning a 13th Premier League title.