Sir Alex Ferguson said he was 99 percent sure that Cristiano Ronaldo would return to Manchester United and Gareth Bale would join from Tottenham before he retired in 2013, Patrice Evra has said.
Evra recently revealed that Fergie believed he needed both players to win the UCL and he was convinced that their transfer was going to happen.
According to the Frenchman, SAF’s retirement was a very sad moment in his career because it was shocking and unexpected when he gathereed all the players to break the news.
He added that the successful manager even had to apologise to RVP and Kagawa since he had just bought them at the time.
His words, “You know, you talk about the hardest moments [in my United career], I would say maybe this is the one.
“Two weeks before that, I remember there was a lot of media saying Ferguson will maybe retire next year, and he said, ‘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.”
On his retirement, “After two weeks, we were in the dressing room waiting.
“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.”
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