Ferguson agrees new three-year United deal

Alex Ferguson has signed a new three-year contract with Manchester United, it was confirmed this morning.

Alex Ferguson has signed a new three-year contract with Manchester United, it was confirmed this morning.

The deal will take keep Ferguson at the club until June 2005.

The public limited company made the announcement in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.

The 60-year-old, the most successful manager in British club football history, had promised to retire at the end of the current campaign after 16 years at the helm.

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However earlier this month he revealed his wife and sons had persuaded him to reverse the decision and that he had entered talks over a new contract, which will reportedly make him the highest paid manager in Britain.

Last summer his salary increased from Stg£1.67 million to £2 million for his final season in charge, but since then Arsene Wenger signed a new deal at Arsenal worth a reported Stg£2.5 million a year.

Ferguson took over the United job in 1986, and since then the club has won four FA Cups, seven championship crowns, the 1991 Cup Winners Cup and the 1999 Champions League.

Ferguson's decision to put pen to paper could also have a beneficial effect on David Beckham, who has been holding out on signing a new contract amid concerns about who would succeed Ferguson.