France coach Laurent Blanc has admitted he "could be interested" in managing Manchester United when Sir Alex Ferguson retires, but insisted that for now he is fully focused on his job with les Bleus.
Ferguson has been in charge at Old Trafford for 24 years and inevitably speculation persists about who his eventual successor will be.
Blanc, who played for united towards the end of his career, emerged as a possible candidate after guiding Bordeaux to the Ligue 1 title in 2009.
"Sir Alex is the cornerstone of Manchester United," Blanc told Reuters. "He personifies Manchester's project, he's got this passion. It would be a very interesting, although a very tough challenge but maybe interesting if he is the one starting it [his replacement's process] with me or someone else. But I could be interested."
"It would please me a lot. But it would be tough to find a successor to Sir Alex. He has done it for 24 years and it will not be easy. For now, I am not in that [United] project. I have another challenge."
