Former Arsenal manager Wenger explains why Jose Mourinho is not mentioned once in his autobiography

Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho [Photo: Courtesy]

Arsene Wenger has given his reasons for completely omitting any mention of one-time rival Jose Mourinho from his new book 'My Life in Red and White'.

The Frenchman's autobiography looks back over his 22 years in charge of Arsenal between 1996-2018, with Wenger giving his views on a wide range of topics.

Somewhat surprisingly, however, Mourinho's name does not appear once, even though the two managers developed something of a tense relationship during the now-Tottenham boss' two spells at Chelsea.

In contrast, Wenger goes into details with regard to his rivalry with Sir Alex Ferguson, and cites the legendary Scotsman as his fiercest enemy.

When asked about the lack of Mourinho, however, Wenger simply answered: "I didn't want to make a book that sorts out some differences. I wanted it to be a positive book. I had more acrimonious battles with Sir Alex than Jose Mourinho."

Tensions between Wenger and Mourinho came to a head in 2014 when they physically clashed on the touchline following a disagreement.

Wenger was presented a gift by Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson to mark his retirement. [Photo: Courtesy]

They also exchanged a number of barbs in press conferences, with Mourinho calling Wenger a "voyeur" and a "specialist in failure".

Yet it was the games between Arsenal and Ferguson's Manchester United in the late 90s and early 00s which Wenger chooses to reflect on in his book.

"The competition makes you hate the opponent," he writes. "I think he (Ferguson) certainly hated me and I hated him sometimes as well.

"Whenever we competed it was always a fight — always very tight and nervous. And don’t forget we also had to deal with Fergie time.

"But when the competition is over what remains is a deep respect for guys like him, for what they have achieved and how long they stayed in the job and dedicated their lives to it."