Alex Ferguson is set to sign a contract keeping him at Manchester United until he is 65 and possibly even beyond, it was reported this morning.
Ferguson, in charge at United for the last 17 years, has been talking to the club about a new contract.
"I have had some good discussions and we are not far from agreement. It could be done some time in the next week," the 61-year-old Ferguson told the Peoplenewspaper. "The length of time I stay on is open to discussion. It is a difficult one. I would probably think 65 years old would be it. That is a nice time to say 'Do I want to go now?'"
Ferguson's current deal runs out in June 2005 but he is believed to be ready to sign a revised four-year contract worth £18 million, backdated to this year and taking him to the end of the 2006/07 season. Ferguson will be 65 on December 31st 2006 and he hinted he might even remain in the post after 2007 if the appetite was still there.
He said: "If I still feel okay at 65 I would stay on if I felt that way and the club wanted me."
Ferguson scrapped original retirement plans in February last year and signed a new three-year deal.
"At times I do think what might have happened if I had retired. It was my wife's decision that I should stay but it was probably what I wanted to do anyhow," he said.
United, third in the premier league, are at Liverpool this afternoon in one of the showpiece games of the Premiership season.