Carlo Ancelotti has revealed that he was tempted in taking over the job of managing Manchester United from Sir Alex Ferguson following the legendary manager’s retirement in 2013.
The Italian, who’s set to replace Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich next season, has told that he was offered the Manchester United job on a lunch date with Alex Ferguson in Paris when the Scottish was looking for a successor to take over the reigns.
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The 56-year-old eventually settled for Real Madrid but has confessed that he would have definitely chosen the Red Devils if the Spanish giants hadn’t come calling for his services.
Speaking about his face-to-face meeting with Ferguson to The Times, he said "[It was] a nice lunch. Alex chose the wine, really expensive.” The lunch date proved to be a little too late, with Ancelotti adding “[But] I had already spoken to Real Madrid. For the experience, a manager has to go to Madrid.”
“If it hadn't been for that, I would have come, 100 percent."
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Ancelotti also spoke about Pep Guardiola, who will be quitting Bayern Munich to manage United’s city rivals Manchester City, saying that the most sought after manager would also join the ‘sack-club’ eventually.
“At Chelsea I won the double. Sacked. At Real Madrid I won La Decima. Sacked," he explained. "There is no manager in their career that is not sacked. Ferguson was sacked, [Marcelo] Lippi sacked, [Fabio] Capello sacked, [Jose] Mourinho sacked, [Rafael] Benitez.”
"The only one not sacked is Guardiola, but he's still really young. He has plenty of time. One day he will come into our club, the Sack Club."
Manchester United were left to rue missing out on his services when Ancelotti guided Real Madrid to the historic La Decima – their 10th European Cup.
The job eventually went to David Moyes, who had a miserable season at Old Trafford and was sacked after just 10 months of being in charge. The Scot failed to guide the Red Devils to the Champions League, as they finished 7th, their lowest finish in Premier League history. Moyes’s reign was only the third shortest managerial stint in United’s history and the shortest in 82 years.
United’s current manager, Louis Van Gaal may also follow suit of his predecessor if United miss out on the Champions League qualifying spot on the last matchday of the season.
