Rene Meulensteen, who served as first team coach at the club between 2007 and 2013, says working under the Scotsman was the best time of his coaching career.

Meulensteen told BBC Radio Manchester: "It was an incredible time. It shows great leadership and great management to be able to bring a club from where they were to what he made it. He's definitely the best manager that the English game has seen.

"I was fortunate to work with him in the last seven years of his managerial career at Manchester United where I felt that he was really at the peak of his management style because he mastered the art of delegation without losing control.

"There was not a day at Carrington or at Old Trafford that we didn't laugh together. He loved to crack a joke. He could take the mickey out of us, we could take the mickey out of him. He absolutely loved it.

"It was the best time of my coaching career for sure because to work with such a talented squad with so many great players but with such a manager, that was so open and also flexible in his thinking, in terms of 'how can we evolve, still get better?' Until the last day that he retired, he had that mentality."