Rio eyes management role

United defender could follow Ferguson lead

Last updated: 26th August 2008

Rio Ferdinand Manchester United v Portsmouth - FA Community Shield August 10 2008

Ferdinand: Looking to future

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Rio Ferdinand has revealed he could join the list of ex-Manchester United players to follow legendary boss Sir Alex Ferguson into management.

Four current Barclays Premier League bosses played under Ferguson at United while Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took their Uefa 'A' badges this summer.

Ferdinand may have missed out on the England captaincy but skippered United with distinction last season and Ferguson has lauded the 29-year-old defender's leadership qualities.

"I love football so I'm sure I'll be involved in the game in one way, shape or form," said Ferdinand.

Future plans

"As I get older, management seems the direction that I'd like to see myself in."

Ferdinand helped United keep a clean sheet on Monday as they beat Portsmouth 1-0 to record their first win of the season.

The defending champions must now wait three weeks for their next league fixture away to Liverpool due to their Uefa Super Cup clash and the opening World Cup qualifiers.

And Ferdinand believes United will face competition from the usual suspects once they resume their title defence.

"I think you can't really look past the normal teams who are about, the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea," he added.

"Those three are definitely going to be involved in one way, shape or form, so as I say, you can't really look too far past them.

"There's usually one team that comes out of the woodwork, last year it was Everton. Who knows? It might be them again or it might be someone else."