Sir Alex Ferguson considered bringing Drogba to Manchester United

The 70-year-old says that the striker's decision to move abroad quashed any chance of a deal, but admits that he would have tried to sign him had he wanted to stay in England.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has stated that he "could've been" tempted for a move for former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba had the striker not been so keen on a move abroad.

Drogba completed a move to Shanghai Shenhua after securing the Champions League for Chelsea by scoring the winning penalty in a shootout against Bayern Munich, and is set to line up against United in a pre-season friendly along with former Chelsea teammate Nicolas Anelka.

And Sir Alex admits that if Drogba had not been so set on leaving England, he would have been tempted to make the striker an offer.

"The decision was his anyway and he said if he was going to leave Chelsea, he wouldn't play for another club in England," the Scot told reporters.

"So that answered that question, but I could've been [tempted to move for Drogba]."

United's pre-season tour continues in China after two matches in South Africa, with a 1-0 win over AmaZulu, followed by a 1-1 draw with Ajax CT, secured by Bebe's injury-time equalizer.