Sir Alex Ferguson revealed today he rejected an approach from Roman Abramovich to manage Chelsea when the billionaire bought the club.
A couple of months before his 2003 takeover, Abramovich was at Old Trafford to see Manchester United beat Real Madrid 4-3 in a Champions League thriller.
The Russian is said to have described that as a “truly beautiful game” and it has now emerged he wanted the Scot to lead the revolution at Stamford Bridge.
“They used an agent to approach me when Abramovich first took over the club,” said Ferguson in an interview with US TV network PBS. “And I said, ‘no chance’. I always come back to this point — why would you leave?”
It meant Claudio Ranieri held onto his job as Chelsea boss but he only lasted one more year before being sacked to make way for Jose Mourinho.
Ferguson remained at United before bowing out of the game in May.
