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Topics: Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United, Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo
Ryan Sidle
Topics: Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United, Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo
Sir Alex Ferguson tried to make a huge double signing for Manchester United, just two weeks before he decided to retire.
Fergie called it a day at Old Trafford in 2013 after securing his 13th Premier League title.
It's now been over a decade since a league title landed at Old Trafford, but fortunately the team can learn about failure from the Scotsman.
In fact, one of his final acts as manager of the English giant, after 27 years in charge, was to fail to land a massive double swoop.
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According to Patrice Evra, Ferguson was planning on staying around for a while longer, and even attempted to make two huge signings.
The French left back revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale were the targets, which makes Fergie's involvement in bringing the Portugal star back in 2021 even more understandable.
In a chat with the club's official podcast, Evra spoke in detail about Ferguson's plans.
"Two weeks before his retirement, I remember there was a lot of media saying Ferguson will maybe retire next year, and he said to me, "Patrice, I will never retire. I will be here another 10 years.
"He then said: 'My target is I'm 99 per cent sure we will have Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. I just need these two players to win the Champions League again. Ninety-nine per cent.'
"And to be fair, when I speak with Cristiano, I ask him and he said yes to the boss, and was coming to join United. He told me this."
Evra also detailed the moment Ferguson told the squad about his retirement.
"After two weeks, we were in the dressing room waiting," he said.
"When we arrived at Carrington, I see all those cameras and I was like: "Wow, someone has done something wrong. Maybe a player is the story again! Someone has done something wrong, we are in trouble.
"But we arrived and people said, 'Guys, you have to stay in the dressing room because the boss wants to have a chat.'
"And when the boss came into the dressing room to talk to everyone, it's never good news.
"He came, and he said, 'I'm really sorry. Some people have said that I'm going to retire even before I say it myself. That's why you saw all those cameras. But I will retire because my wife needs me.'
"He apologised to [Robin] van Persie, he apologised to Shinji [Kagawa], because he just brought them. He apologised to them especially."