Sir Alex Ferguson Only Retired After Failing With Double Signing

Sir Alex Ferguson attempted to sign two huge superstars for Manchester United, just before deciding to retire.

Fergie called it a day at Old Trafford in 2013, securing his 13th Premier League title, winning it back from Manchester City, before deciding to hang up his gum.

According to Patrice Evra, the Scot 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 this summer 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."

Ronaldo took another eight years to finally return to Old Trafford as a United player, after years of speculation, and he's made a good start to his second spell in England.

Already the five time Ballon d'Or winner player has scored three goals in just two games.