Alex Ferguson Reveals Pep Guardiola Was Tabbed Next Manchester United Boss

Apparently Pep Guardiola, not David Moyes, was the "Chosen One" to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager.

In his newest book, Leading, Ferguson claims he wanted the former Barcelona manager to take over at Old Trafford, per Rob Harris of the Associated Press.

"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," Ferguson said in the book.

He added that Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Louis van Gaal and Jurgen Klopp were all considered but deemed unattainable given they were already committed to other posts. That assertion makes you wonder if United truly viewed Moyes as a worthy successor to Ferguson since it would appear he was at best the club's second or third option.     

Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News also wonders whether the 73-year-old is attempting to rewrite history to a certain extent:

To his credit, Ferguson isn't completely backing down from the decision despite Moyes' disastrous tenure at the club.

"We chose David Moyes. He had been consistent in his job at Everton, had a good spell there—11 years and showed appetite," he also wrote in Leading, per Matt Barlow of the Daily Mail. "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."

To that effect, Ferguson seems to be laying the blame for United's poor 2013/14 season firmly on Moyes, which was the same stance he took last year in an update for his autobiography. He argued Moyes "hadn't realised just how big United is as a club," per the Guardian's Daniel Taylor.

The idea of Guardiola taking over for Ferguson certainly makes for an interesting alternate history. The Spaniard would've been the perfect replacement both in terms of his managerial record and desire to build a club from the ground up.

However, it's questionable whether anybody could've truly filled Ferguson's massive shoes. Rarely do you see such a legendary figure replaced immediately with little consequence to the club. In that respect, Moyes might have been the perfect man for the job since he removed much of the pressure on Louis van Gaal when he took it last summer.