Sir Alex Ferguson will retire "after next season" due to health concerns, according to Dave Whelan, the Wigan Athletic chairman.
Whelan, who is a close friend of the Manchester United manager, told ESPN: "After next season, Sir Alex will call it a day. The pressure is telling, especially when you are at the top for so long. The older you get the harder it is to cope with all that pressure, and eventually it will affect you. Sir Alex is resilient and I know he will want to carry on until he drops, and I respect what he has achieved as everyone does."
Last Friday Ferguson suffered a minor health scare when he was taken to a Glasgow hospital after suffering a nosebleed that would not stop. Whelan added: "I am sure his intention was to carry on for two or three, maybe even more years, but he has had a little scare in the last week or so and that tells me he will think very hard, and realise there is no point trying to carry on for another five years and take the risk."
Whelan also paid tribute to Ferguson's legacy. "I would say he is the best manager that there has ever been, and if and when he does pack it in, he will be an enormous loss to the game, that's for sure," said Whelan. "The way he has had such unparalleled success, the way he knows how to choose the right players and then get even more out of them, that makes him the best manager ever, the best we have ever seen."
