Arsene Wenger met with reporters on Friday morning and it was inevitable that someone would ask him about Jose Mourinho’s comments about ‘breaking his face’.

The Manchester United manager, who has previously eye-gouged an opposing manager and tried to ruin the career of a medical professional, said, “When Mr Wenger criticises CFC and Man United over the deal with Mata…I will find him one day outside a football pitch and I will break his face.”

Wenger was asked about this as journos tried to get some more headlines out of it, but the boss was having none of it, although he did manage to throw in a sly dig that very subtle.

Laughing, Wenger said, “I have not read the book and I certainly will not read it,” before adding “I’m not in a destructive mode, I’m more constructive.”

The journalists then moved on for a while but tried to come back to Mourinho, asking if he would ever have a cordial relationship with the Bitter One in the same way he now does with Sir Alex Ferguson, but Wenger said he didn’t want to talk about it. He refused to show any irritation, simply wanting to talk about the game on Saturday that has nothing to do with Mourinho.

The journo kept pushing, highlighting that it is not every day one manager threatens to punch another, and Wenger just replied “What is amazing is that this is nothing to do with our game tomorrow,” while reiterating that he tries to respect everybody.

‘Tries.’

Respect is something Jose Mourinho craves more than anything else and something he’ll never get, at least not for his existence as a human being.

That’s part of why he hates Wenger so much. He can’t comprehend how getting respect is about more than just buying your way to a bucketload of trophies.