Sir Alex Ferguson not ready to step down, says Gary Neville

Gary Neville said José Mourinho has the right credentials to replace Sir Alex Ferguson as the Manchester United manager – but he does not expect that day to come for quite some time.

The Real Madrid manager has never hidden his desire to return to the Premier League, where he enjoyed success with Chelsea before leaving in 2007.

But Neville cannot see Ferguson, now 69, standing down from his position at Old Trafford in the near future.

The 36-year-old former England defender played under the Scot for 20 years before hanging up his boots last month. He said: "There are many great managers and there's always speculation about who's going to take over from Sir Alex.

"I'm sure when the time does come, Mourinho is one of the candidates who will be mentioned because of the success he's had elsewhere.

"He's a character. You have to respect people for what they do and he's very good at what he does. He's been successful wherever he's been. But it doesn't come into my head at this moment in time as Sir Alex is still going stronger than ever."