Arsenal Player Made Arsene Wenger Confession in 'Secret' Text to Jose Mourinho

The decade-long feud between Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho will go down as one of the biggest managerial rivalries in Premier League history.

It is a rivalry that dates back to Mourinho's debut season in English football, when the fresh-faced 'Special One' led Chelsea to their first league title in 50 years after a dominant 2004-05 campaign.

Mourinho, who ruffled a few feathers in that first spell at Stamford Bridge, accused Arsenal boss Wenger of having "a real problem" with Chelsea after the Frenchman criticised their tactical set-up.

"I think he is what you call in England a voyeur," said Mourinho. "He is someone who likes to watch other people. There are some guys who, when they are at home, have a big telescope to see what happens in other families.

"Wenger must be one of them," added the Portuguese manager. "It is a sickness. He speaks, speaks, speaks about Chelsea."

Things got physical between Wenger and Mourinho. Image credit: Getty

A furious Wenger responded to suggesting Mourinho was "disconnected with reality and disrespectful", adding: "When you give success to stupid people, it makes them more stupid sometimes and not more intelligent."

Things continued to bubble and in October 2014, after Mourinho described his rival as “a specialist in failure", things got physical on the Stamford Bridge touchline.

Jose Mourinho claimed unnamed Arsenal player sent him text message

Almost two years after that incident and Mourinho prodded again, this time in a biography titled: Jose Mourinho: Up Close and Personal.

“[One of the Arsenal players] sent me an SMS to say players did themselves, organised themselves during the week," Mourinho said in the book. "Wenger did nothing.”

Asked by author Robert Beasley whether that information was accurate, Mourinho reportedly insisted it was “100 per cent”.

The relationship softened in the coming years, with the latter admitting to having regrets over his treatment of the former Arsenal manager.

Wenger also admitted to going "overboard" with some of his comments.

Wenger and Mourinho shake hands in 2018. Image credit: Getty

Speaking about his relationship with Mourinho in 2020, Wenger said: "That was sometimes very personal and a little bit out of control.

"The problem is you go into a game and already have resentment because of what has been said in press conferences, so nine times out of 10 you hate the guy on the other bench and keep control of it.

"But sometimes it goes overboard. Once or twice with Jose Mourinho it got out of control, but after the game you regret it because you cannot afford that. It creates a big interest from people as well.

"But after a while it becomes normal again and the respect comes back for each other, because you are in this job for a long time and at the end of the day suffer altogether."