Former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson says the success of Thierry Henry at Arsenal was what transformed the club under Arsene Wenger.

Ferguson spoke not only of Wenger's influence on English football as a coach but particularly the moves he made to compete with United - particularly with the signing of Henry.

Henry arrived at Arsenal in 1999 from Juventus having struggled to make an impression as a winger. Wenger deployed him as a striker and Henry hit new heights, scoring 175 Premier League goals in 258 games.

"It became toxic for a while," Ferguson admitted. "The big change that made Arsenal was reinventing [Thierry] Henry. And the goals… he was fantastic.

"You're always looking in the rear-view mirror to see who's coming up behind you, and when you see someone you accelerate.

"Arsenal were catching us up, and their team was good enough to go above us, there's no question about that."