Sir Alex Ferguson raged at Man Utd director for role in failed Jude Bellingham transfer | OneFootball

Sir Alex Ferguson is well known for his fiery temper. Few in football have built a reputation for their angry outbursts quite like the former Manchester United manager has. From dressing room bust-ups, to press conference outbursts, there have been countless stories over the years of the Scot losing his cool, and we now have another one.

This one is far more recent, though, and comes long after Ferguson decided to retire from management and lead a quieter life. That was the idea anyway, but he remained working closely with the Red Devils once he stepped down as head coach and, considering the disastrous state the club has been in ever since it's hardly been a peaceful decade for him.

United have been in turmoil since Ferguson retired in 2013, with numerous managers failing to get anything out of the club, massive amounts of money spent on disappointing players and no Premier League trophies since he left. Things could have been very different, though, as Jude Bellingham visited United's training ground, Carrington, in 2020 with a potential move on the cards.

For one reason or another, it didn't work out, and the star chose to join Borussia Dortmund instead. A few years on from the failed transfer and a report from the Athletic has revealed how Ferguson lost his temper with Red Devils' sporting director, John Murtough, for his actions during Bellingham's visit.

Ferguson felt slighted by Murtough's actions during the tour

The director interrupted a meeting between Ferguson and Bellingham

At the time, Bellingham was still at Birmingham City and was 16 years old. His talent was already apparent for everyone to see, though, so United pulled out all the stops when he arrived at Carrington for a tour of the training facilities. They wanted to entice the midfielder to join them and had Ferguson attend the day and interact with him to help make their case.

It's a common occurrence for big clubs to roll out some of their biggest icons when they're trying to entice someone to join them like this and there are few figures more legendary in football than Ferguson.

Murtough had other ideas, though, and shortly after Bellingham met the former United manager, he was whisked away by the director and had very little chance to interact with Fergie again. It seems like a foolish decision to keep him away from one of United's biggest selling points and the Scot was reportedly furious with Murtough's actions. The Athletic claim he was 'incandescent' at the perceived slight and confronted the director afterwards to tell him that to his face.

Ferguson wants United to replace Murtough

He believes Dan Ashworth is the ideal candidate

Truth be told, the pair have never really been on the greatest of terms and when consulted by Richard Arnold about the club's situation, Ferguson encouraged them to scrutinise Murtough and assess the work he's done for the club. He also highlighted Dan Ashworth as someone he thought was capable of replacing him.

The current Newcastle United sporting director has done excellent work with the Magpies bringing players into the club and was even more impressive in his previous job at Brighton & Hove Albion, with the Seagulls still benefiting from his recruitment strategy to this day.