Alex Ferguson said China needs to lay a solid foundation first in their ambitious bid to become a great football nation.

It will take 10 or 20 years but the world's most populous nation has no other options, the former Manchester United manager told Xinhua.

"The important thing is to have a foundation, (it's) very, very important," he said.

"Secondly, you must have good coaches to develop young players in footballing technique, skill and talent and character. I think that is the only route you should take in terms of developing structure where China can become successful at football."

Ferguson, who had led the Red Devils to play pre-season matches in China a few years ago, was impressed with Chinese enthusiasm and Chinese players' raw talent, but also found there was a lack of organizational power to turn them into success.

"We played them a couple of times and you could see some there was some raw talent there, but the organizational power wasn't there, you could see that," said the 73-year-old Ferguson.

"But there was enthusiasm, and I think people with enthusiasm generally do well. And I think if you look at China maybe in 10 years time or 20 years time they will improve if you get the structure proper."

He noted that China can follow the example of the United States since both countries have a lot of similarities.

"China is still a young country in terms of football," he said. "And it is such a large country. You can take the example of America.

"It is only now starting to get to grips with the organization of it, for instance, they have started academies in America. There was nowhere to go in America other than college football and that always used to be the case. They are now developing academies, so there is a stream of young players coming in and eventually it will increase the quality of the footballers.

"China is exactly the same, a massive country, How do you organize a country that size, it could be done regionally."

Ferguson, who retired in 2013 after leading Manchester United to 38 titles, had once tipped Dong Fangzhuo as the Chinese to watch. He signed the striker in 2004 from Chinese champions Dalian Shide and made him the first East Asian player in Manchester United shirt.

But Dong, unable to play for the senior team immediately because he was ineligible for a work permit, failed to prove himself during four seasons and he returned to China in 2008.

Ferguson described Dong's experience at Old Trafford as "unfortunate".

"Dong Fangzhou had good potential," he said. "He was very, very quick. Players with speed are very important, and he played upfront as a striker and he started very well for us and scored for us in his debut in Hong Kong and was very good.

"But maybe because he was from a country of many thousands of miles away, he wasn't getting an early chance in the first team and sometimes their ambition wanes."

Park Ji-seong, the South Korean who joined Manchester United in 2005, and Japan's Shinji Kagawa, signed in 2012, proved more successful than Dong.

Park made 205 appearances in seven years and scored 27 goals while Kagawa played 57 matches and scored six in three years.

"Their foundations are maybe stronger than China's," he said. "There is evidence something working in these countries and there is no reason why China can't take the example.

"Obviously it (China) is a massive country, much much bigger than Japan and much bigger than South Korea but as I said earlier it has got to start with a foundation, if you have a good foundation, good coaching, good organizing.

"China is growing in all directions and it should grow in sport."

His new book, Leading, which looks back on his 38-year managerial career, will be launched on Tuesday. It has already been hailed as "inspirational new book about leadership".

Ferguson, who has been invited to teach at Havard University Business School, said his experience in football could be transferred to business through the book.

"No doubt, absolutely no doubt," he said. "Leaders are leaders. I think if you take the examples of my leadership in terms of my observation my decision making, my communication, my consistency, my personality, that applies itself to business. I think good business leaders will have these qualities just as I have."

He said he had retired of "family reasons", not because of "age".

"When my sister-in-law Bridget died, my wife felt a bit isolated. I decided then that I would retire.

"When that decision was made I looked forward to retirement, half of the people retire because of age, but for me, retirement was because of a family situation."

Although he enjoys the life in retirement, he still misses the old days.

"Carrington is a fantastic family situation, the ground staff, the girls in the laundry, the administration staff, all these young people," he said.

"If you look at my career at my time at United, one or two of the girls (who) joined the club at 16 or 17 are married now and are mothers. You see them grow and that family spirit is something you always miss."

On his hand-picked successor David Moyes, he didn't want to talk about him directly, but he stressed that a club should not fire a manager in just one year.

"In a good football club the manager will always be the most important person," he said.

"The manager dictates the philosophy of the football club. That's why they employ him. I always wondered why they employ a manager and sack him after a year. I don't think that's healthy.

"Longevity has proved in my case."

Ferguson said Ryan Giggs, assistant coach at Manchester United, will become a great manager, tipping him as a future boss of Old Trafford.

"Ryan Giggs will do well," he said. "Ryan Giggs will eventually be a top manager."

Ferguson, who remains at Manchester United as a director and club ambassador, is proud of the legacy he left to the club. Considering the club's performances since he left, he has more reasons to feel so.

"I think what I'm proud of is I was the manager of Manchester United for 26 and a half years," he said.

"That will always be remembered, plus the success we had. We achieved everything you would want to achieve.

"I never look back. Always look forward, and that positive attitude to my job was really always there.

"I think Manchester United fans will remember that period as probably the best in their lives. And young people growing up will always remember that 26 years, maybe starting to support Manchester United when they were five and now 32 years of age, say, and that period they will always remember."

Taken from Xinhua