Ferguson reveals he wanted Guardiola as successor, not Moyes

Former United manager gives behind-the-scene details in new book

LONDON: Alex Ferguson has revealed that David Moyes, the man chosen as his managerial successor at Manchester United, was sixth on a list of ideal replacements headed by Pep Guardiola and four others, who were all “unavailable” at the time.

In his new book Leading, United’s longest-serving manager outlines the selection process behind Moyes’ ill-fated appointment at Old Trafford, which lasted less than a year after he replaced the retired Ferguson in 2013.

“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. “When we started the process of looking for my replacement, we established that several very desirable candidates were unavailable. It became apparent that Jose Mourinho had given his word to Roman Abramovich that he would return to Chelsea, and that Carlo Ancelotti would succeed him at Real Madrid. We also knew that Jurgen Klopp was happy at Borussia Dortmund and would be signing a new contract. Meantime, Louis van Gaal had undertaken to lead the Dutch attempt to win the 2014 World Cup,” he added.

Moyes was sacked after 10 months at United but Ferguson defended his fellow Scot’s record prior to joining the club. “We chose David Moyes. He had been consistent in his job at Everton, had a good spell there — 11 years and showed appetite. Unfortunately, somehow it didn’t work out for David. The process was perfect.”

Instead, the former United manager reserved his criticism for Moyes’ decision to overhaul his backroom staff after taking charge.

Ferguson reveals Rooney wage row

Ferguson also revealed that he refused to allow Wayne Rooney to be paid more than him during a contract stand-off with the striker in 2010.

Rooney vowed to leave United after accusing the club of a lack of ambition, only to perform a sudden U-turn and sign a new five-year deal reportedly worth £180,000 a week.

But Ferguson reveals in his new book that he engineered a deal of his own ensuring that no player could earn more than him, telling United’s owners the Glazer family and then-chief executive David Gill he “did not think it fair that Rooney should earn twice what I made”.

“It was simple. We just agreed that no player should be paid more than me,” said Ferguson.

Rooney fell out with Ferguson prior to the Scot’s retirement in 2013, but was appointed United captain by van Gaal last year.

Ferguson says that Everton pulled out all the stops to prevent Rooney joining United in 2004, including an emotional phone-call from the player’s mother.

“After we gave them our final offer, [Everton manager Bill] Kenwright got Rooney’s mother on the phone and she told me, ‘You are not going to steal my boy’,” writes Ferguson, who is now a United director.

Other revelations in the book include the disclosure that Ferguson considered a move for wayward Italy striker Mario Balotelli in 2010, only to be dissuaded by his contacts in Italy.

“In 2010, I briefly flirted with the idea of signing Mario Balotelli, the talented but controversial Italian striker,” says Ferguson. “I did my homework on him, speaking to a few Italian contacts, but the feedback I got confirmed it was too big a risk.” 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2015.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.