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A one time Manchester United Coach, Alex Ferguson has disclosed whom he chose as a replacement before the appointment of David Moyes. He claimed that the choice of Moyes was not the original plan, but one that was made out of the need to have someone replace him when he was leaving. He said they went for Moyes after their intended choices of replacement couldn't be brought down to Old Trafford.

His new book which was titled “Leading by Sir Alex Ferguson with Michael Moritz,” revealed that Bayern Munich head coach, Pep Guardiola was his chosen replacement at the Old Trafford and not David Moyes. The book further revealed how Ferguson was keen on Guardiola,  after he defeated him in two Champions League finals with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011 respectively and had insisted that the man would be the perfect choice of replacement for him, since Pep Gardiola had shown he had what it takes to take Manchester United to the very next level.

He said: “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. 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.

“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." He said this thinned out their choices a great deal. 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.

“Once I’d conveyed my decision to retire from coaching to the Glazers, then the process started of looking for successors. We chose David Moyes. He had been consistent in his job at Everton, had a good spell there – 11 years and showed appetite. No one knew apart from the Glazers, David Gill and myself. When we appointed him, the press were enthusiastic for a British manager. Unfortunately, somehow it didn’t work out for David. The process was perfect. It was a good process.”

Sir Alex confessed that the inability of David Moyes to perform at Old Trafford was a disappointment for him. He said he felt responsible in a way, since he was fully involved in the process of choosing him as the new manager to replace him. He stated that David Moyes ouster after just 10 months in charge of Manchester United was not expected in the least.

Ferguson stepped down as a manager of Manchester United, in 2013 after 27 years  of active service. David Moyes was appointed his successor on a six-year deal. Moyes was sacked on A August 22, 2014, only 10 months after succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson.