Contrary to the ‘quotes’ flying around the internet at the moment, Arsene Wenger didn’t say Manchester United head coach would be a dream job.
The fake quotes, seemingly originating on Twitter before being picked up by Fox Sports Asia and spreading to the rest of the English media, were supposedly from an interview with beIN SPORTS.
According to the claims, Wenger said: “Manchester United is a dream job for any coach. I have confidence, I have courage…and you’re right, I have ideas.”
The interview was real, the quotes were not. Dominic Booth of the Manchester Evening News actually bothered to search for the original source of the words, and beIN SPORTS confirmed to him there wasn’t one.
The Arsene Wenger 'dream job' quotes about Manchester United are fake.
A @beINSPORTS spokesman has told me: "We broadcast a big exclusive interview with Wenger last week, but (that) quote was not said in that interview – so we cannot claim to be the source." #mufc
— Dominic Booth (@DomBooth19) September 26, 2019
GFFN also then posted to confirm the quotes were fake:
The quotes circulating attributed to Arsène Wenger about Manchester United are entirely fabricated.
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) September 26, 2019
It’s surprising the quotes even got this far, as making up comments and attributing them to beIN has been a favourite pastime of Twitter users this year.
BeIN also tend to post videos along with their interviews, particularly in the case of the most interesting segments. The fact that they weren’t trying to capitalise on the viral nature of the quotes should have been another big giveaway.
To conclude, no, Wenger isn’t angling for the Manchester United job. United fans everywhere can stop fawning over him now.