United deny Eriksson Approach

Last updated : 28 April 2002 By Rob Cooper
A new biography of Sir Alex Ferguson claims that Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson was approached to take over before Sir Alex decided to stay on for a further three years.

The English FA's Scottish Chief Executive Adam Crozier told the Sunday Mirror "It is a non-story. The same thing was said a few months ago and it was wrong then - as it is now."

Meanwhile, Manchester United chairman Peter Kenyon told BBC Radio Five Live:

"He (Sven) has done a tremendous job and got England to the World Cup finals, and I know he is committed to moving them on into the European Championships.

"So let's get rid of this speculation. Let's concentrate on where we are at today and that is that Sir Alex is with us for a further three years.

"There was huge speculation as you would expect once Sir Alex said he was going to retire."

"It was clear up until Christmas we were not going to do anything and then we had to deal with what was going to be the end of Sir Alex's career and move forward."

"But we want to get all this speculation behind us. What we are delighted about is that Alex is with us for another three years, and that is by far the best solution for everybody involved with Manchester United."

"We have been linked with every single manager. Inevitably people will continue to speculate.

"But let's put this behind us and move forward because what we're really interested in is making sure Manchester United move forward under Sir Alex Ferguson."