Jose Mourinho has hailed Arsene Wenger as a "top manager" and reckons Arsenal will challenge Chelsea for their Premier League crown next season.
The two bosses don't share the best of relationships and have frequently found themselves involved in a war of words during their time in opposing dugouts.
However, in a rare act of kindness towards the Gunners boss, Mourinho told BT Sport: "I believe they [Arsena] have a top manager, I'm not making fun here. They will be even harder to beat next season."
Mourinho's unsavoury relationship with Wenger reached boiling point last year when he branded Wenger "a specialist in failure", a comment which led to the Portuguese being widely accused of disrespect.
"If he is right and I am afraid of failure it is because I didn't fail many times. Eight years without silverware, that's failure," Mourinho said in February 2014, referring to the Gunners' long trophyless spell.
"He's a specialist in failure. If I do that in Chelsea, eight years, I leave and don't come back."
The pair then almost came to blows in a Premier League match between the two managers' sides at Stamford Bridge just seven months later in October.
Wenger confronted Mourinho on the touchline after he took exception to a challenge by Blues defender Gary Cahill.
The Frenchman pushed Mourinho before the pair were separated by fourth official Jon Moss.
Wenger apologised for his role in the incident after the match which ended in a 2-0 win for Chelsea.