“We talked a little bit about the game we played there and about living in Aberdeen and how his time was here.”

Ferguson won a raft of major trophies – including the 1983 European Cup-Winners’ Cup – during a glittering eight years in charge at Aberdeen.

He left Pittodrie in 1986, going on to amass plenty more silverware at home and abroad with Manchester United, whom he managed for 27 years.

However, the 82-year-old recently lost his ambassador role at Old Trafford.

“We only talked about football generally,” Thelin said as he prepared for Wednesday’s high-profile visit by third-top Rangers, for whom Ferguson was a striker.

Describing the Scot as “the top man” for what he did for Aberdeen, Thelin said they chatted about “how he can reinvent himself so many times” as a manager over the years.

“We talked about how it was to live here and he wished me luck,” he added. “I was really young when he was here and he went to United.

“It was more not about the tactical things, more about leadership, how you can for such a long time at two clubs be inspirational to new players and try to keep going.

“That is the thing you try to do yourself when you are a coach is to be consistent.”