Since Arsene Wenger came to Arsenal in 1996, the Gunners and the Red Devils have shared the Premier League titles between themselves and become bitter rivals. Both managers constantly tried to outsmart the other one, either by buying better players, or putting pressure on the referees, or with clashes on the pitch, which happened quite often in the derby matches. And now came the confession that even players from the opposite teams were considered at one point.##TWITTER_<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🇫🇷🗣️ Patrick Vieira on Arsenal's rivalry with Manchester United… 🔥 <br><br>"Manchester United was the best team in the country, and we knew that if we wanted to win the title, you have to finish in front of them. We had teams that were prepared to challenge United. We weren’t scared… <a href="https://t.co/JWbRnavr2z">pic.twitter.com/JWbRnavr2z</a></p>— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) <a href="https://x.com/eurofootcom/status/2020412282803732843?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>##According to Arsenal’s former captain, Sir Alex Ferguson tried to persuade the Gunners’ best player to switch sides! Senegal boss Patrick Vieira revealed this for Sky.“I had the opportunity to move to Real Madrid a couple of times and I even had an opportunity to move to Manchester United. I had a meeting with Sir Alex Ferguson. Full respect, I couldn't say no to meeting him because he was an important figure in the Premier League. We met and we talked and he explained to me his vision that he had for Manchester United and the team that he wanted to build. He wanted to play me with Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs on the left-hand side, David Beckham on the right-hand side and Paul Scholes to play behind Ruud Van Nistelrooy, so it wasn't a bad team” he said.##LINKED_NEWS_18155##This bold attempt probably happened in 2003, when Vieira had one year left in his Arsenal contract, but ties with the Gunners were too big for the Frenchman to accept the proposal.“I couldn't leave Arsenal, I was too happy there and we were on the way of building something quite really special for the club and that's the way it was. When you do well, of course there's teams who are interested and then you have to make a decision. But the decision for me was to stay at Arsenal because I felt the love from the club, from the players and from the fans. Everything was there for me to grow up as a player and to achieve what I wanted to” he said. Vieira eventually became the club’s captain as part of the 'Invincibles' team, with the Gunners crowned champions without losing a game. In 2005, he moved to Juventus.2027 AFCON QUALIFIERSAfrica Cup of Nations qualificationRound 2Tuesday14.00: (2.00) Comores (3.05) Namibia (3.90)16.00: (11.0) Burundi (5.20) Algeria (1.25)16.00: (5.40) Ethiopia (3.70) Senegal (1.60)16.00: (30.0) Lesotho (13.0) Morocco (1.03)16.00: (2.60) Madagascar (2.95) Tanzania (2.80)16.00: (1.85) Mozambique (3.00) Sudan (4.60)16.00: (16.0) South Sudan (6.75) Egypt (1.15)19.00: (1.47) Cape Verde (3.70) Rwanda (7.75)19.00: (1.60) Ghana (3.60) Gambia (5.60)19.00: (8.00) Guinea B. (3.90) Nigeria (1.43)19.00: (2.00) Uganda (3.05) Libya (3.90)19.00: (2.20) Zambia (3.05) Togo (3.35)20.00: (2.40) Benin (3.00) Mauritania (3.00)22.00: (6.25) Congo (3.60) Cameroon (1.55)22.00: (1.57) Gabon (3.50) Niger (6.25)22.00: (7.50) Liberia (3.90) Mali (1.45)22.00: (30.0) Somalia (13.0) Ivory Coast (1.03)***odds are subject to change***
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