Sir Alex Ferguson insists he never considered becoming England manager because their ability to win major tournaments has always been overestimated, writes James Olley.

Ferguson claimed in his 2013 autobiography that he was offered the job in 1999 before Kevin Keegan took charge and then again in 2001 prior to Sven-Goran Eriksson’s appointment but rejected both opportunities immediately to continue in his role as Manchester United manager.

The 73-year-old, who stepped down at Old Trafford just over two years ago, described the job then as a “bed of nails” but further examined the pressure involved in a BBC interview to promote his latest book, Leaders, which is released today.

“One: it’s an impossible job — the pressure on the England manager is huge,” he said. “Every competition, for some reason the press make them favourites, or one of the favourites, and to my mind they have never been favourites.

“The fans also get lit up by the press observations. The huge army of fans they take to the World Cup or the European Championships is fantastic but brings pressure.”

Although United have struggled since his retirement, Ferguson now believes United are “not far away” from winning the Champions League under Louis van Gaal.

United returned to Europe’s premier competition this season after a year absence following the disastrous 10-month reign of David Moyes.

They began with a 2-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven last week but sit second in the Premier League table and Ferguson is adamant Van Gaal is on the right track to building a team capable of winning the biggest prizes.

Sir Alex Ferguson on his missed targets 8 show all Sir Alex Ferguson on his missed targets 1/8 Petr Cech "I went to see him in 2003 for Rennes. We thought Petr was a bit young for the bruisers in the Premier League." (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) 2/8 Didier Drogba "We went to check him out [at Marseille] but the club wanted £25 million and Chelsea moved in for the kill before we had made up our minds." 3/8 Thomas Muller "He was a ten-year-old when we heard about him. We had him watched and the following day he committed himself to Bayern Munich." 4/8 Ronaldo "We wanted to sign the Brazilian striker from Cruzeiro in 1994, but we could not get a work permit and he went to PSV Eindhoven." 5/8 Sergio Aguero "His agent was demanding a price we were not prepared to pay." 6/8 Lucas Moura "We offered £35 million but Paris Saint-Germain signed him for £45 million." 7/8 Raphael Varane "In 2011, I hurtled down to Lille. Zinedine Zidane got wind of this and somehow scooped him up for Real Madrid." 8/8 Mario Balotelli "In 2010 I briefly flirted with the idea of signing Mario Balotelli, the talented but controversial Italian striker,' Ferguson wrote in his new book. I did my homework on him, speaking to a few Italian contacts, but the feedback I got confirmed it was too big a risk." 1/8 Petr Cech "I went to see him in 2003 for Rennes. We thought Petr was a bit young for the bruisers in the Premier League." (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) 2/8 Didier Drogba "We went to check him out [at Marseille] but the club wanted £25 million and Chelsea moved in for the kill before we had made up our minds." 3/8 Thomas Muller "He was a ten-year-old when we heard about him. We had him watched and the following day he committed himself to Bayern Munich." 4/8 Ronaldo "We wanted to sign the Brazilian striker from Cruzeiro in 1994, but we could not get a work permit and he went to PSV Eindhoven." 5/8 Sergio Aguero "His agent was demanding a price we were not prepared to pay." 6/8 Lucas Moura "We offered £35 million but Paris Saint-Germain signed him for £45 million." 7/8 Raphael Varane "In 2011, I hurtled down to Lille. Zinedine Zidane got wind of this and somehow scooped him up for Real Madrid." 8/8 Mario Balotelli "In 2010 I briefly flirted with the idea of signing Mario Balotelli, the talented but controversial Italian striker,' Ferguson wrote in his new book. I did my homework on him, speaking to a few Italian contacts, but the feedback I got confirmed it was too big a risk."

Asked how much it would mean to him in retirement to see United win the Champions League, he replied: “Oh, I’ll be there with the scarf on, definitely. It’ll happen, don’t worry about that. It’s not far away.

“Every manager is different. We all have our different philosophies, beliefs, ways of doing things, how we pick teams and the quality of players we are looking for and enjoy. Louis has got a great background — Bayern Munich, Barcelona — he has got the pedigree, there is no doubt about that. And I love his press conferences — they are brilliant. I can hear some of these press guys twitching in their seats as he answers some of their questions.

“He has got the confidence to deal with that. I don’t get to the training sessions obviously but I love watching the team.

“Looking as a United fan now, something will always happen. There is a romance about them that you can never change. It is an unbelievable world brand and I am still glad to be part of that.”