Legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said he wanted former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola to replace him when he retired in 2013, not David Moyes.
It will be recalled that Sir Alex, as he is fondly called by fans, last week revealed that he resigned his job because he saw signs that his wife, Cathy, was “lonely”, after her twin sister died.
Everton manager, David Moyes, was appointed in a six-year deal in 2013 to replace Ferguson but left in his first season due to under-performance.
In his new autobiography, ‘Leading by Sir Alex Ferguson with Michael Moritz’, the 73-year-old said he became keen on Guardiola after he beat him to the UEFA Champions League trophy on two occasions, 2009 and 2011.
“I had dinner with Pep Guardiola in New York in 2012, but couldn’t make him any direct proposal because retirement was not on my agenda at that point,” said Ferguson.
“He had already won an enviable number of trophies with Barcelona…and I admired him greatly. I asked Pep to phone me before he accepted an offer from another club, but he didn’t and wound up joining Bayern Munich in July 2013.”
According to him, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Jurgen Klopp, and Loius van Gaal were also in with a chance but they were all committed to deals with their clubs and country.
Ferguson won 38 trophies in 26 years as manager of Manchester United.