Outgoing Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards has revealed the Old Trafford club were just "days away" from appointing a successor to Alex Ferguson.

The long-serving Scot, who picked up his eighth Premiership trophy at Goodison Park on Sunday, abruptly changed his mind about retirement 18 months ago, signing a new three-year contract, and there has already been speculation it will be extended before it runs out in 2005.

United chief executive Peter Kenyon has always been cagey about who was in line to replace Ferguson if he had gone through with his intention, insisting the former Aberdeen boss "was the right man for the job".

Ferguson himself claimed earlier this season that United had lined up England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson for the role, although this was strenuously denied by Old Trafford officials.

However, in an interview with the BBC, Edwards, who will stand down from his role this summer after an association with the club which goes back almost three decades, has admitted just how close United were to losing the club's most successful manager.

"We were very close to appointing someone else," he said. "Probably no more than three or four days. That was when Alex made the decision to change his mind. It was just in time."

Ferguson received the loudest cheer of all from the visiting fans when he held the trophy aloft at Everton, although Edwards - who is believed to have had a stormy relationship with the Scot during his time at the club - insisted it had been a surprise when he changed his mind.

"I believed he was going to step down," said Edwards. "We were very surprised when he changed his mind."