Sven-Goran Eriksson turned down Man Utd and Chelsea while England manager

Former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson has said he had "contact" with both Manchester United and Chelsea about becoming their manager during his time in charge of the Three Lions.

Eriksson was England manager between 2001 and 2006, taking them to three major tournaments.

However, he could have left his post on two separate occasions, having been linked with the United job in 2002 and the Chelsea job in 2004.

Back in 2002, Sir Alex Ferguson had announced his intention to walk away from the club, telling MUTV: "I will be leaving Manchester United at the end of the season and that is it."

However, Ferguson ultimately reversed his decision and stayed on until 2013, when he retired from management altogether.

In 2004, Eriksson was linked with Chelsea following Claudio Ranieri's departure, but Jose Mourinho ultimately got the job.

Reflecting on those two approaches, Eriksson, speaking exclusively to Ladbrokes at the launch of their European Championships 5-a-side Bet, said: "During my time as England manager, I had contact with Manchester United and then Chelsea.

"But it's almost impossible to leave your contract early as the England national manager to then go on and take over an English club. If you leave England, people will not look very good at you.

"There were discussions with those two clubs, but they never led to anything, and I'm proud to have stuck to my decision to stay in charge of the national team."

In his 2013 autobiography, 'My Story', Eriksson claimed that talks with United even went as far as him signing a contract to become Ferguson's replacement.

He wrote: "I had a contract with England until the 2006 World Cup and I would be severely criticised if I broke that contract. But this was an opportunity to manage Manchester United, probably the biggest club in the world.

"I would be able to stay with England through the World Cup. My appointment would not be made official until after the tournament.

"A contract was signed – I was United’s new manager. A couple of weeks passed and Pini [Zahavi] called again. He wanted another meeting.

"When I got there, I knew something was wrong. Kenyon explained that Ferguson had changed his mind. He did not want to leave the club after all, but had agreed to stay in the job for another three years."

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