'The boy from Govan who grew up to become a footballer and Clyde shipyard shop steward now walks among us as a sporting god, the greatest football manager in the history of football management, with nine league titles, five FA Cups, two League Cups, the Champions' League and the European Cup-Winners' Cup.
'But enough of the financial machinations; "Do great heroes," I wanted to know of Sir Alex, "revere great heroes of their own? If you could invite four people from the world of sport - alive or dead - to partake of bread and wine at Old Trafford, who would be on your guest list?"
'"Number one, Muhammad Ali," came the instant response. "The greatest sportsman of all time, no question. Not just his because of his abilities as a boxer but for his stand against the Vietnam War. He set such a fabulous example to us all. At the time, there were those who thought he was anti-American; but he wasn't.
'"Muhammad Ali was simply anti-war and that was a great message to the world. I met him only once - by which time he was suffering badly from Parkinson's - but it was a great thrill nonetheless. He had an aura about him you could almost touch, a fabulous personality and if you want to know what part psychology plays in sport, then Muhammad Ali was a master of it before anyone else had even thought about it.'
'"Number two, Jock Stein, who was so far ahead of his time it wasn't true. I moved to Dunfermline just as the Big Man left to go to Celtic but by then he'd revolutionised the place. He'd made Dunfermline - who he had rescued from relegation within six weeks of his arrival at East End Park - into a big club. In 1961 they won the Scottish Cup; the following season they reached the quarter-finals of the Cup-Winners' Cup, and the year after that, they were beating Everton in the Fairs Cup.
'"He would have been well within his rights to glorify himself in some way but that simply wasn't Jock's style. He was also a very intelligent man who played the press brilliantly. I remember one day down at Turnberry, he invited me to join him at the press conference to which he turns up about 10 minutes early and plonks himself down on a chair outside the room. Along come the hacks and Jock starts, just loud enough for them to hear. 'Here's such and such coming, big gambler . . . this one's having it off with so-and-so'. He knew everything about them and they all knew that he knew.
'"Number three, my idol, Denis Law. To me, Denis epitomises what it is to be a Scot: he started life in an empty house, he had the courage of a lion - he probably had more fights with the biggest centre-halves in the world than any other player I can remember - and they all knew he could handle himself."
'"What a lot of people don't remember is that I almost replaced Denis in the team that beat England 3-2 at Wembley in 1967 when I was in the squad. Denis was really doubtful with injury but, as we all know, he was declared fit at the last minute and scored the first goal. But, yes, it was almost me and not Denis who played in the Not-The-World-Cup-Final, but he's one special guy."
'And your fourth and final lunch guest, Sir Alex? "I've been mulling this over in the back of my mind since you first posed the question. Maybe it was the era I was born in but I've always admired boxers, people like Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Graziano, Roberto Duran - hard, hard fighting men who came out of the ghettos. Then there's Jack Nicklaus, who still holds the record for Majors - though Tiger is closing in - and people that know him tell me he's a really nice fellow.
'"But the man I'm going to go for, because he shaped almost every part of athletics training, is Emil Zatopek with his five Olympic gold medals. The interval training that he initiated way back in the Fifties has influenced everyone, from myself to Martin Pipe, the National Hunt trainer. So it would be fascinating to sit down with the guy and find out when and why he came up with an idea that didn't just transform athletics but every other sport as well. Muhammad Ali, Jock Stein, Denis Law and Emil Zatopek, four giants at one table."
'What Sir Alex neglected to say, of course, is that there would be five giants for lunch.'