Watching Manchester City storm to the Premier League title this season can't have been easy for anyone involved with Manchester United.

Once upon a time it was United who dominated English football and would brush aside anyone who tried to stand in their way of glory.

But now the tables have turned and it looks like City are going to be the team to beat for the next few years at least.

What Pep Guardiola has achieved with his squad over the past nine months is nothing short of sensational, yet everything could have been oh-so different.

When Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, Guardiola was the man he really wanted to succeed him in the Old Trafford hot seat.

David Moyes infamously ended up taking over instead, with Fergie explaining in 2015 that Bayern Munich got to Guardiola before him.

"I had dinner with Pep Guardiola in New York in 2012 but couldn't make him any direct proposal because retirement was not on my agenda at that point," he said.

FERGUSON WANTED GUARDIOLA

"He had already won an enviable number of trophies with Barcelona and I admired him greatly.

"I asked Pep to phone me before he accepted an offer from another club, but he didn't and wound up joining Bayern Munich in July 2013."

United ended up getting a manager of Guardiola's calibre in Jose Mourinho anyway, although it's still worth pondering what could have been.

Nevertheless, Sir Alex hasn't been bitter about City beating his former employers to top spot as evidenced by what he did for Guardiola after they became Premier League champions.

According to the Daily Mail, the Scotsman put rivalries aside and congratulated Guardiola on winning the title by taking him out to dinner.

It was United's 1-0 defeat to West Brom that saw City confirmed as champions, which will have undoubtedly disappointed Fergie but he showed his class nonetheless.

Red Devil fans will only hope it's Mourinho that Ferguson takes out for a congratulatory meal next year to celebrate the Premier League trophy returning to Old Trafford.