Fergie says he only had 4 world class players at Manchester United

Sir Alex Ferguson has said that he only managed four world class players at Manchester United.

The former United boss has named Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Eric Cantona and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only four world class players he managed during his 26 years at Old Trafford. Speaking to the BBC, Ferguson said that Cantona was "the catalyst" for United's years of domination, that "when we brought him in we won the league that season - it was his mere presence and his ability to make and score goals. "The younger breed like Ryan and Scholes were just fantastic players and the thing about those two was longevity. "Are there players who have played right through the whole of the Premier League and performed at the level they have? There are none, absolutely none. "Of course Ronaldo was just a complete genius of a player." Ferguson, who has written a new book called Leading, does admit that Roy Keane, Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Peter Schmeichel, Carlos Tevez and Rio Ferdinand were all great players, but that his chosen four "elevated themselves above all that." They also never fell out with the Scot. Make of that what you will.