Sir Alex Ferguson has named an England great as the one player he wishes he’d managed, describing him as “unbelievable”.

Ferguson reveals he tried to sign "unbelievable" England star

Ferguson worked with some top players over the years, with the likes of Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo playing major roles in Manchester United winning a whopping 13 league titles during the Premier League era.

Ronaldo probably tops the list, having gone on to win the Ballon d’Or five times, with the 83-year-old making it clear the Portugal international and Lionel Messi were on a completely different level to everyone else at their peak.

That said, while Ferguson was very successful in the transfer market, he did miss out on some major targets, with Alan Shearer famously rejecting a move to Old Trafford in favour of playing for boyhood club Newcastle United.

Shearer is not the only Geordie who almost joined Man United either, with the legendary manager revealing that he tried to sign Paul Gascoigne before his move to Tottenham Hotspur.

When asked by Gary Neville which player he wishes he could’ve managed, Ferguson said:

“Paul Gascoigne. Without question, I think he was the best English player since Bobby Charlton. He was a fantastic player. Unfortunately, we didn’t get him and I think looking back now, he made a big mistake.

“He recognised himself years later but we had Geordies in the camp – Bobby Charlton, Bryan Robson, even Gary Pallister from Middlesbrough. We had people there who would’ve taken care of him, particularly Bryan Robson, he was fantastic with players as you know.”

The ex-United boss also went on to add:

“Honestly, he was unbelievable, and I said to Martin who was coming at the back of the bus, ‘Sign this boy. Get on the phone to him, Monday.’ But at that time, he had already done a deal with Tottenham which was really unfortunate.”

Gascoigne would have excelled at Old Trafford

Of course, the former Tottenham Hotspur man still went on to have a successful career, but he didn’t lift a great deal of silverware, winning two Scottish Premierships, one Scottish Cup and one FA Cup.

Given just how talented a player he was, the 58-year-old probably regrets not making the move to Old Trafford, considering just how successful Man United were right the way through until Ferguson’s retirement.

It wasn’t to be, however, with the central midfielder opting to move to Tottenham instead, where he chipped in with 33 goals and six assists in 112 matches, while also picking up 57 caps for England and scoring an iconic goal against Scotland at EURO 96.

Courtesy of moments like that, Gascoigne will forever be remembered as an England legend, but it is difficult to shake the feeling he could’ve been capable of achieving so much more, had he decided to sign for Man United.