Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed that Ryan Giggs could have succeeded him in 2013 had the Welshman retired from playing when he was 35 years old.

Giggs, who hung up his boots last year at the age of 40, now works as assistant boss to current manager Louis van Gaal.

However, Ferguson believes that Giggs would have been in charge of United for a few years by now had he retired earlier in his career.

"If Ryan Giggs had retired six, seven years ago, say he had retired at, say, 35, quite likely I would have made him my assistant and quite likely he could have moved straight into the job with the experience of being an assistant manager to me as he is doing with Louis Van Gaal at the moment, but I would never have asked a player to quit," Ferguson said in BBC documentary Sir Alex Ferguson: Secrets of Success.

David Moyes replaced the successful manager in 2013, but lasted just nine months in the job after falling to seventh in the Premier League table.