Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that he wanted Pep Guardiola to replace him at Manchester United when the Scotsman called time on his 27-year career at Old Trafford in 2013.
The 73-year-old was eventually replaced by David Moyes, who lasted just 10 months in the role, but Ferguson has revealed that ex-Barcelona boss Guardiola was first choice.
In his new book Leading, Ferguson revealed that he met the Spaniard during a holiday in New York in 2012 and he told the coach to get in contact before taking his next job.
Guardiola eventually chose to join Bayern Munich following a sabbatical in the United States, and Ferguson has claimed that other targets, including Jose Mourinho, Jurgen Klopp and Louis van Gaal were not available at the time.
"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," wrote Ferguson.
"Life is such that the best of theories, or the best of intentions, sometimes don't translate into practice. Believe me, the United board wanted nothing more than to select a manager who would be with the club for a long time.
"When we started the process of looking for my replacement, we established that several very desirable candidates were unavailable."
Van Gaal is now in charge of the Red Devils.
