Jose Mourinho reveals Sir Alex Ferguson couldn't bring him to Manchester United - he chose Chelsea

Ferguson eventually selected David Moyes as his successor

(Getty Images)

Jose Mourinho has revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson could not tempt him into picking Manchester United over Chelsea.

With the Portuguese manager heading for the exit at Real Madrid in 2013, and Ferguson about to retire after 27 years in charge at Old Trafford, Mourinho would have been a likely contender to take over from the 13-time Premier League winner.

But in a new BBC documentary, Sir Alex Ferguson: Secrets of Success, Mourinho revealed that his heart was always set on goinf back to Stamford Bridge.

"Every manager in the world looks at Man United as a huge club but I wanted to come to Chelsea and we didn’t bring that to the table because we were so open and he knows so much about myself,” Mourinho said during an interview for the programme.

"He knew that for almost a season I want to leave Real Madrid and I want to come to Chelsea."

United, with Ferguson's recommendation, eventually picked former Everton manager David Moyes to succeed him. Moyes struggled at Old Trafford and was sacked just nine months into his reign, but Ferguson insists that picking Moyes was not a mistake.

"When I announced my retirement, do you honestly believe that one man could decide the future of Manchester United?" Ferguson said. "That’s absolute nonsense. There was a good process. They’re a professional football club. They know what they’re doing, the Glazers, David Gill. José was going back to Chelsea, Carlo Ancelotti was going to Real Madrid, Jurgen Klopp had signed a contract with Dortmund, Louis van Gaal was staying with Holland for the World Cup.

"The other thing was I took Pep Guardiola for dinner in New York in the September and I had no idea I was ever going to retire and I said to him give me a call and tell what you’re going to do. No answer. I don’t think we made a mistake at all. I think we chose a good football man. He did a great job at Everton, 11 years there. We picked the right man. Unfortunately it didn’t work for David.

"We’d like to have spoken to many managers, believe me, because that’s the process. We’d like to have asked them what they felt about leaving a big club to go to a bigger club. To come to Manchester United. But it wasn’t there for us. I think we did the best under the circumstances we were in."