Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson have officially been inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame, joining an exclusive club of ex-players who have decorated the last 25 years of the competition. The legendary former rivals turned great friends are the first managers to have been voted in. Ferguson was unable to attend the glitzy ceremony last night, but his old foe, who masterminded Arsenal’s last title-winning campaign, was there in person as he joined fellow new inductees Rio Ferdinand and Tony Adams. Wenger said, “I’m very happy to join the Premier League Hall of Fame with Sir Alex Ferguson, I must say he is certainly the greatest ever Premier League manager. There was a lot of scepticism when I arrived in the Premier League, so I had to gain people’s trust. During the invincible season I discovered what it was like to become a manager without fear. The team went to another level, above ego.”
When asked who he thought might join him in future in being bestowed with the honour, Wenger cited a case for Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne given his ‘exceptional decisiveness over the last five years’. De Bruyne has been in sensational form in recent weeks for Pep Guardiola’s side who took another giant step towards retaining the title with a 3-0 win over West Ham last night. Erling Haaland scored his record breaking 35th goal of the season, taking his tally to 51 in all competitions. Guardiola said, “It was (special), I think he deserved it. All the team deserved it because without the team he couldn’t do it, but he is a special striker. We are very pleased for him because he is a joy, not just to work with him as a manager. I think everyone is happy to have him with us.”
The current members of the Premier League Hall of Fame are Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Dennis Bergkamp, Steven Gerrard, David Beckham, Patrick Vieira, Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes, Didier Drogba, Peter Schmeichel, Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany, Ian Wright, Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Rio Ferdinand, Petr Cech and Tony Adams.