Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed in his new autobiography that England manager Roy Hodgson was hugely responsible in convincing defender Chris Smalling to move to Old Trafford.

Smalling was signed by Ferguson as a youngster, but many eyebrows were raised when it was learnt that the club had parted company with £ 7 million for the then 20-year-old. Smalling struggled with consistency and form during his first few years at the club. Now, 25 years of age has given him a lot of maturity and the ability to deal with a lot of situations. Smalling is now one of the top defenders in the Premier League.

Hodgson is also benefiting from sending Smalling to Old Trafford since he now has a world-class defender available for the England national team. The presence of Smalling largely helps overcome the absence of a top-class defenders like John Terry and Rio Ferdinand. Ferguson has admitted that a number of clubs were interested in signing Smalling and one of them was archrivals Arsenal. However, his relationship with Hodgson helped him complete that deal ahead of the other candidates. Due to the lack of Phil Jones, who is unavailable due to injury, Van Gaal has been utilising Smalling in partnership with Daley Blind.

"I got my revenge when Roy Hodgson, then the manager of Fulham, was instrumental in helping us snatch the defender, Chris Smalling, away from Arsenal," said Ferguson, who is now an ambassador at United after having retired in 2013. Ferguson is finally starting to see the best out of Smalling. He did not have the possibility of managing the player when he was at his peak. Smalling has been one of the ever present players for United this season. The 25-year-old will be hoping to continue in the same manner without any niggling injuries.