David Beckham thought he was too big for Manchester United and later surrendered part of his career by moving to the United States to play for LA Galaxy, former United manager Alex Ferguson said in his autobiography published on Tuesday.
In "My Autobiography", published by Hodder and Stoughton, Ferguson chronicles the years from Manchester United's treble-winning season in 1999 to the time he ended 27 years in charge of one of the world's biggest football clubs.
Those waiting with bated breath for its contents to be revealed would not have been disappointed either with Ferguson's dejection at Beckham's obsession with celebrity or Roy Keane's "frightening" rages which are covered in candid detail.
Ferguson's 27 years at Old Trafford, before retiring at the end of last season after a 13th Premier League title, were the most successful of any British manager.
During a time of huge change in the football landscape the one constant to emerge was Ferguson's total authority, however big the egos or the salaries of those under his command.
In a chapter devoted to Beckham, Ferguson says the former England captain "surrendered" part of his career when opting to join LA Galaxy in 2007 from Real Madrid, after being sold to the Spanish powerhouse by Ferguson in 2003.
"There was no footballing reason for him to go to America," Ferguson said. "He was giving up top level football as well as the international game. You should never surrender what you're good at."
Ferguson also questioned Beckham's lifestyle.
"David was the only player I managed who chose to be famous, who made it his mission to be known outside the game."
Ferguson, who famously kicked a boot at Beckham's head during a halftime row, said the midfielder eventually thought he was bigger than the club.
"David thought he was bigger than Alex Ferguson...the name of the manager is irrelevant. Authority is what counts."
Ferguson's fallout with former skipper Keane also led to the Irishman departing.
Keane left Ferguson fuming after criticising his team mates on the club's TV channel in 2005.
"What you did in that video was a disgrace," Ferguson recalls of his reaction to Keane.
Ferguson said the breaking point was when Keane accused him of bringing his private life into the club.
"The hardest part of Roy's body is his tongue," Ferguson wrote. "What I noticed that day as I was arguing with him was his eyes narrowed to black beads. It was frightening to watch. And I'm from Glasgow."
Ferguson's relationship with Wayne Rooney became strained in 2010 when the striker said he would not sign a new contract because the club did not share his ambition.
"Wayne said we should have pursued Mesut Ozil who had joined Real Madrid from Werder Bremen. My reply was that it was none of his business. I told him it was his job to play and perform.
"It was a sorry episode for Wayne because it portrayed him as a money man. With the fans, it left a residue of mistrust."
Ferguson said he was offered the England manager's job before Sven-Goran Ericsson was appointed in 2001 and before that in 1999 when the job went to Kevin Keegan.
"There was no way I could contemplate taking the England job, can you imagine me doing that?," the Scot said.
"No, it wasn't a bed of nails I was ever tempted to lie on."
THE BEST BITS
On turning down the England manager's job in 1999 and 2001:
"There was no way I could contemplate that. It wasn't a bed of nails I was ever tempted to lie on."
On Wayne Rooney:
"I felt he struggled more and more to do it for 90 minutes, and he seemed to tire in games. He came into my office the day after we won the league (in 2013) and asked away. He wasn't happy with being left out for some games and subbed in others."
On a row with former captain Roy Keane after the Irishman criticised several of his team-mates in an interview with the club's in-house television station, MUTV, that was never aired:
"It was frightening to watch. And I'm from Glasgow. He has the most savage tongue you can imagine."
On discussing Keane's outburst with his assistant, Carlos Queiroz:
"'He needs to go, Carlos,' I said. 'One hundred percent,' he said. 'Get rid of him,' I said."
On Cristiano Ronaldo:
"Cristiano Ronaldo was the most gifted player I managed."
On watching Ronaldo play for the first time:
"One night I was watching a movie, White Fang, the Jack London book about going down to Klondike in search of gold. That's what it must be like for a scout. You're standing watching a game on a Saturday morning and you see a George Best, a Ryan Giggs or a Bobby Charlton. That's what I felt that day in Lisbon. A revelation. That was the biggest surge of excitement, of anticipation, I experienced in football management."
On Liverpool's decision to wear T-shirts in support of striker Luis Suarez after he was accused of racially abusing United left-back Patrice Evra:
"Liverpool wore those T-shirts supporting Suarez, which was the most ridiculous thing for a club of Liverpool's stature".
On former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez:
"Soon after Benitez arrived, I attended a Liverpool game and he and his wife invited me in for a drink. So far, so good. But our relationship frayed. The mistake he made was to turn our rivalry personal."
On Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho:
"He's a likeable person when you get to know him, and he can laugh at himself, turn a joke back on himself. I don't know whether (Arsene) Wenger or Benitez had that capacity."
On former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini's decision to forgive Carlos Tevez, the former United striker, for refusing to go on as a substitute in a Champions League game at Bayern Munich:
"Taking him back showed desperation. In terms of his prestige as a manager, he let himself down."
On 'Pizzagate', the row at Old Trafford that followed a defeat by Arsenal in October 2004:
"They say it was Cesc Fabregas who threw the pizza at me but, to this day, I have no idea who the culprit was."