Sir Alex Ferguson reveals he managed only four world class players at Manchester United

Cristiano Ronaldo was one of four world class players Sir Alex Ferguson managed at Manchester United

In Sir Alex Ferguson’ new book Leading, he reveals that during his 27-year spell in charge of Manchester United, he managed only four players who could be considered world class. They were none other than Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Eric Cantona and Cristiano Ronaldo, according to excerpts given in The Guardian.

While Giggs and Scholes won 13 Premier League titles with Sir Alex, Scholes won 11 EPL medals. Cantona was a signing brought in to lead the young Class of ‘92 while Ronaldo was the promising youngster who signed for the Red Devils and became on of the Premier League’s best foreign imports before a record-breaking move to Real Madrid.

Speaking about Giggs, Sir Alex said he had what it takes to be a successful manager in the future. The former Welsh winger is currently assistant manager to Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford.

“Ryan Giggs is eventually going to be a great manager – he has intelligence, presence and knowledge,” Sir Alex says in the book. Sir Alex even praised the current owners, the Glazers, even though they are not exactly popular with the fans.

“From my perspective as manager they have been very good owners,” Sir Alex said.

Sir Alex did not want Wayne Rooney to earn more than him

The Scot also writes about the Wayne Rooney transfer saga when the English striker was looking for a significant increase in his wages while also being linked with other top clubs in the press. David Gill was the chief executive at the time and he discussed the matter with the then manager.

Sir Alex Ferguson did not want Wayne Rooney earning double his wages at Manchester United

Sir Alex says: “I told them I did not think it fair that Rooney should earn twice what I made and Joel Glazer (joint chairman) immediately said: ‘I totally agree with you but what should we do?’

“It was simple. We just agreed that no player should be paid more than me. We agreed in less time than it takes to read the previous sentence.”

David Moyes was not first choice to replace me: Sir Alex

The 73-year-old former manager also revealed that he had sought out other top managers such as Jurgen Klopp, Carlo Ancelotti, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho to take over at Manchester United. But he was too late in reaching out to them as they all had previous commitments which they couldn’t break.

He even calls Mourinho “a spectacular manager”. Pep Guardiola has also recently been linked with the United job as a potential candidate to succeed Van Gaal.

It was only then United turned their attention to the then-Everton boss David Moyes to take charge. But Sir Alex also gives an anecdote of how nervous Moyes was when he first interviewed him for the assistant manager’s post in 1998.

He revealed that Moyes was “very tense” when he was interviewed while United were looking to replace Brian Kidd who had moved to Blackburn. Moyes, then a manager at Preston, was eventually rejected and Steve McClaren was appointed.

Sir Alex Ferguson had approached Pep Guardiola to take over at Old Trafford once he retired

“Steve McClaren was the opposite of David,” Sir Alex said. “He was bright, breezy, and enthusiastic. At that point Steve had a lot more experience in the top flight of football than David and that swung my decision.”

Although Moyes was appointed in 2013, he was sacked less than a year into his tenure immediately after the club failed to qualify for the Champions League. United finished seventh that season and did not even qualify for the Europa League.

And Sir Alex looked back at the sacking and said the issue should have been taken care of in a better manner. He also reveals that though many wanted him to return to the hot seat, he never wanted to take up the job again.

“I understand why critics, particularly in light of the 2013/14 season, say we should have handled the transition better,” he said. “There were some who wanted me to return to the sidelines. But I was not tempted.”

On looking to sign Mario Balotelli and losing Paul Pogba

The former manager also revealed that he had an interest in Mario Balotelli in 2010. The young Italian striker was making waves in Europe but the Scot decided against signing the then 20-year-old after conversations with his contacts in Italy.

While many have criticized Sir Alex for letting a youngster like Paul Pogba go, he was quick to point a finger at his agent Mino Raiola for the midfielder's eventual departure in 2012. Pogba would eventually go on to become one of the best and most-wanted midfielders in Europe, even winning the Best Young Player award at the 2014 World Cup.

“There are one or two football agents I simply do not like, and Mino Raiola, Paul Pogba’s agent is one of them,” Ferguson says in his book

“I distrusted him from the moment I met him. We had Paul under a three-year contract, and it had a one-year renewal option which we were eager to sign.

“Raiola suddenly appeared on the scene and our first meeting was a fiasco. He and I were like oil and water. From then our goose was cooked because Raiola had been able to integrate himself with Paul and his family and the player signed with Juventus.”