Sir Alex Ferguson had no sooner walked up the stairs of the academy building at Manchester United's Carrington training headquarters yesterday lunchtime when the applause broke out. It is an uncommon thing, being in the presence of genius, and, as the champagne was uncorked and Ferguson proposed a toast in front of the assembled press corps, even some of the United manager's staunchest critics seemed to enjoy the moment.

Ferguson may be truly appreciated only once he has left United, for there will never be another of his kind again, but to the collective groan of his managerial counterparts the world over, there are no signs that he is about to walk off into the sunset, even if a Barclays Premier League and Champions League double would have provided a fitting send-off.

Asked if he had considered retiring, Ferguson responded with an emphatic “no, no, no”, but while the past was a recurring theme during the lengthy, illuminating discourse that followed, it was the future that had the indefatigable Scot purring.

Ferguson is deeply critical of the fact that it has taken United nine years to win the second Champions League he craved, but it was with a conviction perhaps greater than any he has demonstrated previously during his 21 years in charge at Old Trafford that he spoke about matching and even surpassing the records of Ajax and Bayern Munich, both of whom have won four European Cups, and Liverpool, who have lifted the trophy five times. Overhauling Real Madrid (nine wins) and AC Milan (seven) will not happen in his time at the helm - if ever - but Ferguson threw down the gauntlet to Ronaldo, Rooney, Tévez and Co nonetheless.

“The European thing is part of our motivation every year, about why have we not won it more?” he said. “Winning this one puts us right behind Bayern and Ajax and I think that's the biggest challenge - to get to a more respectable number of European championships.

“When you win the European Cup it's a special occasion, you treasure these things. We have had to wait nine years to do it again, which proves it's not an easy tournament to win. It's now three [wins] and it has a far better ring to it, I must say, and hopefully we can build on that because, particularly for the younger players who had not been [to a Champions League final] before, you can't not relish an occasion like that.”

Pressed on the matter of overhauling Liverpool's record of 18 domestic league titles - United will match that feat if they win the Premier League again next season - Ferguson was almost dismissive. He has long maintained that knocking Liverpool off their “f***ing perch” was one of his greatest achievements and having won ten league titles to their two, and lifted two European Cups to their one, during his tenure at Old Trafford, the United manager feels that he has nothing to prove on that front.

“I don't concern myself with that because this team will do it [beat Liverpool's record], they will win more titles over the years, I'm sure of that,” he said. “I did my job of getting rid of Liverpool many years ago from that top position. I did that job. I don't need to worry about league titles.”

Ferguson talked about being a “bit of a dinosaur”, but it is his willingness to embrace new ideas that has kept him on the front foot, while the youth in his squad has rekindled his old fires. Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Nani, Anderson and Carlos Tévez have an average age of 22 but, despite investing heavily in the last three last summer, Ferguson has no intention of standing still in the transfer market during this close season and he hinted at more talented young arrivals. With the European Super Cup to contest against Zenit St Petersburg, the Uefa Cup winners, in Monaco on August 29 and, more troublingly, the Fifa Club World Cup in Japan in December, that may be a necessity as Ferguson wrestles with an even more congested fixture list.

“Carlos [Queiroz, Ferguson's assistant] and I had a meeting this morning and looked at the squad and have to try and analyse what we need next year,” he said. “We have the European Super Cup and play two games in Japan, so right away we have got a big demand on us with games. There are good signs about our team, but we have got to look at bringing in players who are young enough to develop in the club all the time. That's what we did last summer and maybe this summer, too.”

Whether that translates as a move for Micah Richards, the 20-year-old Manchester City and England defender, in addition to Aaron Ramsey, the Cardiff City midfield player who is rated at £5million, despite being only 17, remains to be seen, but Ferguson is not about to cast aside the veterans in his team. Ferguson talked about how, with “Mr Sandman” catching up on the likes of Edwin van der Sar, 37, Ryan Giggs, 34, and Paul Scholes, 33, Wednesday's victory over Chelsea in Moscow probably meant more to them than the “young ones who think it's going to happen every year”, but the manager said that he could envisage Giggs playing for United until he is 38. “Yes, we have got some age issues with Giggs and Scholes obviously,” Ferguson said. “My hope is that in the next couple of years they will play around 25, 30 games apiece, but I wouldn't put barriers against them continuing in the way they have done.”

Still, Ferguson allowed his mind to drift back to the Luzhniki Stadium and said that he feared that United would lose the final when John Terry stepped up to take Chelsea's fifth penalty after Ronaldo's miss had handed the London club the advantage. Fate, Ferguson believes, was shining on his team, though, with Terry's miss paving the way for United to mark the 50th anniversary of the Munich disaster with victory.

“I think fate does play a part sometimes and we had a bit of a cause,” Ferguson said. “I never mentioned it once about the 1958 team, but it was there. When Sir Bobby Charlton spoke to the players earlier in the year it resonated right through the club.

“Fate does play its part and for me, personally, I've had three European finals that all p***ed down with rain, so when the rain came I said, ‘This is for me.' I was delighted to see the rain. And even with Terry slipping, you know, it's amazing. Luck's luck and you can't win without it. And we had that luck at that very moment.”

True, but luck cannot explain it all.