David Beckham has admitted that he was never a world-class player, after being left off Sir Alex Ferguson's list of top-bracket players managed by the Scot at Manchester United.

Ferguson named Cristiano Ronaldo, Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes as the only four men deserving of that label in his new book, a list which Rio Ferdinand appeared to contest earlier on Thursday.

However, Beckham has insisted that he was not offended by being omitted from mention by Ferguson and revealed the high regard in which he still holds the 73-year-old.

When asked if he was insulted, he told BBC Sport: "Not at all. I played for the greatest manager of all time, I was lucky to play with the players that I did and be successful with the club that I love and still love.

"I tend to agree with the manager, there are certain players that you can call world class and thankfully I played with many of them."

When asked if he thought that he was better than Ronaldo, he added: "No, I was lucky enough to play against Cristiano. I am proud as a Manchester United player that we have the best players come to our team."

Beckham played nearly 400 times for the Red Devils from 1992 to 2003 before moving to Real Madrid.