Ryan Giggs could learn the job at Jose Mourinho's side

Whether this was in the knowledge that Gary would embark on a career in television, or merely a straight opinion that Giggs's managerial potential was the greater, or a judgment based on both factors, it stuck in the mind - and seems all the wiser now that Sir Alex Ferguson has thrown his weight behind the notion that his longest-serving player might step into the lonely office.

Leaks from a private function attended by Ferguson fail to define his vision. Would Giggs be an immediate successor or even, initially, a player/manager in the manner of Kenny Dalglish, who won the Double with Liverpool in 1986? Perhaps Channel 5 will ask Ferguson for clarification after this evening's match with Ajax in Amsterdam. Perhaps not. But the implications will be considered throughout Europe.

Nowhere more pertinently than in Madrid, where Jose Mourinho, even as he prepares to bask in the glory of having retrieved at least the Spanish crown from Barcelona, awaits the call to return to England. The United job is the one he wants most and, given that he enjoys an excellent relationship with Ferguson, a tip-off may be envisaged.

The argument for Giggs as his Old Trafford assistant is attractive. Mourinho usually keeps a link with the past - Steve Clarke at Chelsea, Aitor Karanka at Real - and, while Giggs has yet to graduate as a coach and obtain experience
like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in his native Norway, unlikely transformations occur.

We'll always remember Giggs free, a bird on the wing, but the cares of dugout life are about to be thrust upon him.