Manchester United director Mike Edelson admits replacing Ron Atkinson was a straight shootout between Sir Alex Ferguson and Terry Venables.

Ferguson celebrates 25 years in the United job today.

And Edelson told the Daily Mail: "Martin said it was time to make a change and we thought about who there was and there were really only two names. Ferguson or Venables.

"Alex because of what he'd done at Aberdeen and Venables because he'd guided Barcelona to the European Cup final a few months earlier, having won the Spanish league the previous season."

Edelson also revealed: "When we eventually spoke to Alex we discovered he was earning more at Aberdeen than we had been paying Ron. I think Archie Knox was on about the same as Ron as Alex's No 2."